A Slytherin Love
by Tom Felton Lover999
Summary: Five years after the war ended. Cora Rella is trying to work and put her life back together after a bad breakup. To make matters worse, Draco Malfoy is her business partner at the Ministry. She feels like she will never find love while Draco has a new girlfriend every night. But when a secret comes out, is it a sign that she isn't alone? Or will it only make matters worse?
1. Chapter 1

It's been about five years since the war has ended. I still was getting used to it. I saw many of my friends die at my feet and I knew my family had some cause in all of this damage. I, myself, became a Death Eater at age sixteen along with Draco Malfoy. That is probably why we both clashed heads so much. I was a Pureblood Slytherin and a Chaser on the house team, but I still wasn't rich enough in Draco's eyes. I always had a giant crush on him and even know he was a HUGE ass to me… I kind of left him hints on how to get the cabinet to work again.

No one was supposed to know what Draco's mission was, so naturally everyone knew. Everyone knew he was going to fail, but I had hope. Draco was a very powerful wizard, so I knew he could and would kill someone. When I had found out, he couldn't bring himself to kill Dumbledore… I was impressed. I never knew that arsehole had a heart.

When the war broke out in Hogwarts, I was dating Blaise Zabini at the time. Blaise and I got separated. A Death Eater came by and began to attack me. He didn't know I was one of him. All he knew was that I was in a Hogwarts uniform. A Slytherin one, but all Death Eaters couldn't be smart, could they? Draco saved my life. After that, Draco totally changed in my eyes. He was just a misunderstood person.

An year and a half after the war, I found out Blaise cheated on me… We were engaged and planning our wedding. Pansy Parkinson came into the picture. Draco had dumped her and she ran right into Blaise's arms. Draco stopped talking to Blaise and that's when I got promoted at the Ministry.

I have been working alongside Draco for four years now and he was the biggest pain in my ass.

After the break up between him and Pansy… He went through a partying stage. He would have me cover for him and would come in late wearing the same suit he was wearing the day before. He was ranked higher than me, so I couldn't unleash my fury on him… I have learned to keep my mouth shut.

"Cora? Cora!" I snapped out of my haze and looked across the table at Hermione Weasley. She and Ron got married five months ago; she always had a smile on her face. I have never seen someone so much in love before. Harry and Ginny were engaged. Their wedding was coming up in a month and a half. "Sorry, what were you saying?" She shook her head and poured me more tea.

"I was asking about your date last night." I took a sip of my tea and shook my head. "Awful. I found out there is a ten year age difference. Thanks a lot Malfoy." I hissed. I knew why Draco set me up with this man. It was Draco's new client and according to Draco, Mr. Anderson couldn't keep his eyes off of me.

"I'm sorry, Cora. Just be patience. You'll find him." I rolled my eyes. I looked down at my watch and saw my break was almost over. "Gotta go, Hermione." She nodded and gave me a smile.

000

I placed my purse down roughly on my desk and plopped down. I saw the stack of papers in front of me and regretted taking my break. I sighed and ran my hand through my hair. "Rella!" I groaned at the sound of Malfoy's thick voice. I pulled my messy curly hair up in a ponytail and straighten out my sweater.

"Yes, Malfoy." I hissed looking up as he strolled into my office. He unbuttoned his jacket and leaned causally against my desk. "The date?"

"Awful. Actually he seemed to enjoy himself." I muttered as I signed my name to a document. Draco didn't say anything but just nodded his head. I was grabbed another document and Draco slapped the Daily Prophet on my desk.

_**Blaise Zabini and Pansy Parkinson engaged!**_

Why was he showing this to me? I hated to admit, but I still loved Blaise. We started dating in fifth year and then poof… it was all destroyed. "Why are you showing me this?" He shrugged and picked it back up opening it. He glared at the front page and turned to the third page. He again plopped it down on my desk and smirked.

A picture of me was smiling back at me. "Well done. Your work last month promoting the new muggle-borns protection is really looking promising. But, people seem surprise that Cora Rella is still single. The bloody article talks about for a paragraph and a half." I bit down on my finger nail and picked up the paper.

"And since when have you cared about my personal life, Malfoy?" I asked leaning back and propping my heels up on my dress. "It is starting to look pathetic. I mean you are my business partner… I have a date every other night and here you are forever alone." I rolled my eyes and tossed the paper back at him.

"I would rather be forever alone than being concerned every month if I will have a child appearing soon." I smirked and he glared at me. About a month ago, Malfoy's ex came to the office screaming and crying saying she was pregnant. The Daily Prophet went insane, but then we found out she was just jealous of his new girlfriend and wanted him to look like the bad guy. I waved at him and smirked, he stormed out of my office slamming the door behind him.

000

I kicked off my heels and plopped down on my leather couch. "Miss Rella, what can Daisy get you?" I looked at my little house-elf. I had gotten my parents manor when they decided to flee to America after the war. "Alcohol, please." She bowed her head left the living room. I pulled out my wand from my purse and started the fire.

Daisy appeared back with my drink and disappeared again. I slowly drank it and the image of Blaise and Pansy smiling away just kept appearing in my head. What was wrong with me? Why do guys seem to run in the opposite direction when they see me?

The doorbell run and I yelled saying I would get it. It was six o'clock at night. Who could it be? I tucked my wand into my sweater and pulled open the door to see Draco standing there. Drunk. He had gotten off of work an hour before I did and it seemed like he decided to drink… Why he was at my door, I hadn't had a clue?

"Malfoy? What are you doing here?" He stumbled into my manor and knocked over a vase. "I wanted to see you!" He chuckled and picked up my drink taking a drink. "Well, that's a first. Why are you drunk? I didn't think you started partying till Friday… It's only Monday." He plopped down on my couch and stretched out.

"Pansy owled me. That stupid wretch." I sat down on the opposite couch and called in Daisy. "Please, get Mr. Malfoy some tea." She nodded and left quickly. "You broke up with her… why would that upset you?"

"I had to break up with her! I never wanted too!"

"Wait, what?" He sat up and took another drink of my drink. I snatched it out of his hands and handed him his tea when Daisy walked in. He rolled his eyes took a sip. "My father knew I was about to propose and told me he would disown me… I wouldn't see a gallon, he said." He laughed loudly throwing his head back. He really wasn't a pleasant drunk.

"He said he had already picked out my bride to be. You know I have been engaged to her since I was thirteen! Apparently, her father lost a bet and my father thought she would be the perfect little wife for me."

"Well, who is she?" I asked taking the extra tea cup and pouring myself some tea. I was knew this whole story was true. Drunks could never lie. He stopped his rant and leaned forward.

"You."

My tea cup shattered on the carpet as I stared at him.


	2. Chapter 2

I stared out my window. I had just sent two letter to the ministry saying that Draco and I had caught some sort of flu and we would not be coming in today. Draco was knocked out in one of the guest bedrooms. So, my father agreed to have me marry Draco Malfoy. I was livid. Why wasn't I told about this? This was my life! How was I going to control Malfoy?! He parties every night and has one night stands all the time.

And how can someone still be in love with Pansy Parkinson! Sure, they dated since fourth year, but I couldn't stand her. Her voice just irritated me. I pulled my hoodie over my tank top and walked down the hallway to where Draco was sound asleep. I opened the door and saw him stretched out on the bed. He was shirtless and had his mouth hanging open. The sheets were wrapped around his waist, I watched as his tone chest fell up and down as he breathed.

Well, at least he was attractive. I walked over to him and pocked him in the shoulder. "Malfoy. Malfoy. Malfoy!" He shot up and held him head tightly in his hands. I handed him a hangover potion, which he chugged down quickly. "Why the hell am I here?" He asked sitting up.

"Don't you remember coming to my manor drunk?" He sighed and shook his head. I sat down at the end of the bed. "You also told me about how your father refused to let you marry Pansy because you were already engaged to me." His eyes got wide and he groaned. "Oh now I remember why I came over."

He walked over to his pants that were lying over the chair in the corner of the room. All he was in was black slick boxers and I couldn't help, but stared at his toned body. I glanced down at myself, I had no makeup on, my hair was thrown in a messy bun, and I was wearing short shorts and a sweatshirt. I really didn't look good. He handed me two letters, one was from Pansy and the other was from his father.

_**Dear Draco, **_

_**I know you probably already know that Blaise and I are getting married. I wanted owl you, to see if you still had any feelings for me. I am not going to lie. I still love you, but I also love Blaise. He treats me a lot better than you did, but every time I see your picture and Rella's picture in the Dailey Prophet it kills me. Blaise still loves her. I see the way he looks at her pictures. I just need to know if I can go through with this marriage.**_

_**Owl me back, **_

_**Pansy Parkinson.**_

My heart tightened as I read it again. Blaise still loves me. Why did I have to see this? I had just finally gotten over Blaise and now this pops up. I gripped the letter tightly in my hands and felt Draco's eyes on me. I didn't dare look up. I picked up the letter from his father.

_**Son,**_

_**I have just gotten news of Parkinson and Zabini's engagement. She moved on and it is time for you to. I hear that Ms. Rella is still single. This is the perfect timing. Draco, she's beautiful, a pureblood, and has a very good job. Why don't you ask her on a date? **_

I sighed and handed him back the letters. As much as I wanted to have a husband and children… I could never marry Draco. He was in love with Pansy and now I was starting to realize I had not let go of Blaise. "What do you suppose we do?" I whispered trying to keep my voice from cracking. I was on the verge of crying and I had no idea why.

"I want Pansy back and you want Blaise back. I also want my money from my father. If we date for a little while think about how crazy it will make them… I get my money and our fairytale relationship breaks apart. I have Pansy and you will have Blaise back." He placed his hands on my shoulders and gave me one of his famous smirks. It sounded like it would work, but I couldn't make myself agree. I stood up and stepped away from him.

"No, my heart has been through enough. I need you to leave. I have already owl the ministry telling them we will not be in today." I quickly walked out of the room slamming the door behind me. Why couldn't I bring myself to agree to the plan? I wanted Blaise back and that would be the perfect plan. I loved him, but he already shattered my heart once and I was scared it would happen again.

I was also scared that I would fall for Draco. I already had some feelings for him and I didn't want to ruin our jobs. I knew Draco was furious with me and I knew he wasn't going to stop until I agreed, but I wasn't as easy as that. I was willing to fight.

000

I watched as the door slammed behind her. I growled and knocked the lamp that was on the night side table to the ground. I'm Draco Malfoy! She should be begging to date me. But no! She was Cora Rella. Blaise knew I liked Cora for a long time and the second she broke up with a Ravenclaw bloke, he went straight for her. When I found out Blaise cheated on her with Pansy after I broke up with that wrench. It made me furious. I didn't know why, but it did. That was why we quit talking.

I plopped down on the bed and began pulling on my pants. Her face… When she read that letter from Pansy, it looked like her world had collapsed. I knew she has been trying to get over Blaise, I shouldn't have shown her that letter, but I wanted Pansy back and I wanted my money. I pulled on the rest of my clothes and jogged down the marble stairs.

"Mister Malfoy, may Daisy get you anything?" I shoved the house-elf out of my way and pulled opened the front door. I ran smacked into someone and grunted. "Oh so sorry… Malfoy?" I looked up to the eyes of Blaise Zabini. He looked me over and I knew I had to look rough. I looked down at my wrinkly shirt that was messily thrown on and my shoes weren't even tied. I looked like I got dressed in a hurry.

"Zabini?" I smirked. His face was turning red and his fists were clenched at his sides. He thought I was sleeping with Cora. I glanced back at the beautiful Rella Manor and smirked. If Cora wasn't going to help me, I was going to find my own way to talk her into it.

"Why are you at Cora's?" I smirked; I knew exactly what I was going to do. "Use your imagination, Zabini." I winked at him and patted him on the shoulder. I glanced over my shoulder to see him staring up at Cora's manor. I had planted the seed, Blaise was surely going to go home and tell Pansy… Everyone knew that Pansy Parkinson had the biggest mouth in the wizarding world.

By the end of the day, I knew there was going to be a rumor going around.

And that rumor was going to be that I was sleeping with Cora Rella.

I smirked and disapprated back to Malfoy Manor.


	3. Chapter 3

I was pushing random wizards and witches out of my way. I wanted blood and I wanted Draco Malfoy's blood. I had the Daily Prophet clutched in my right hand. I was having my morning tea when Daisy dropped it in front of me asking me if it was true. On the front page were mine and Draco's pictures with giant writing above that read:

**MALFOY AND RELLA DATING?! **

In the writing below our picture explained how Draco was spotted leaving my Manor and he reported saying that we were indeed dating. I knew he wanted his money, but I didn't realize how bad he wanted it. "Good morning, Ms. Rella." Clark took all our calls and brought us in our mail. He had messy black hair and gold eyes. He was a looker, but I knew he just graduated from Hogwarts. He was a Hufflepuff, because Draco made a big deal about having a Hufflepuff work for him. "Draco?"

"He is actually here. Got here about twenty minutes ago." I nodded and walked over to his door pushing it open. I groaned and saw him kissing the neck of a pretty little blonde head. I cleared my throat and they broke apart. The girl was actually Malfoy's new client's eighteen year old daughter. "Get out or I'll tell your daddy you're screwing him." She quickly jumped off his desk and pulled down her skirt down. I slammed the door behind her and Malfoy leaned causally against his desk. His black tie was lying on the ground and his dark silver shirt was unbuttoned.

"Yes?" He smirked. I held up the Daily Prophet and tossed it at him. He grinned and read the article. "Well, hello lovely." He said chuckling and tossing the paper on his desk. "You little cockroach! I told you that I didn't want a part of your scheme."

"Well as I was leaning your manor, Zabini was walking up… I saw my chance and took it." I gaped at him. He knew Blaise would go back and tell Pansy. Pansy works for the bloody Daily Prophet! She was the one that always got the juicy gossip. "You know that purple dress looks fantastic on you." I looked down, I was wearing a purple dress that was a little tight and black high heels. I had a black sweater thrown over it with my hair in loose curls. I growled, great now it looks like I dressed up for him.

"I expect you will be getting an owl from Zabini. He looked heartbroken when he saw me walking out of your manor. You know I actually think he was there to win you back." He smirked, I felt myself tensed up. He was right, he had to be. Why would Blaise just randomly show up at my house?

"Stop! Stop this now. I do not want to be known as another slut that Draco Malfoy has." I slammed the door behind me and looked up to see Clark talking to Blaise. "Oh there you are, Ms. Rella. Mr. Zabini was about to leave you a message."

"How dare yo…" Draco yelled, but stopped short when he saw Blaise standing there gaping at me. "Blaise? What are you doing here?" I asked walking over to him. Blaise grinned and looked me over. Why did I have to wear this dress today? He walked over to me and placed his hands deep in his pockets. "I suppose you saw the Daily Prophet."

"Yes, we did." Draco spoke up quickly. "I wasn't talking to you. Cora, can we speak privately in your office?" Blaise said quickly. I nodded and was about to lead Blaise to my office when Draco grabbed my wrist pulling me to a stop. He pulled me close to him and kissed my head. "You better bloody play like we are together. Or I will make your life a living hell." He hissed as he slowly let go of me backing back into his office. Blaise followed me to my office and I tried to stay as calm as possible. As much as I didn't want to play into Draco's little scheme, I knew if I didn't it would just get worse and worse. Draco was a powerful man. I closed the door behind me and waited for Blaise to speak first.

"I miss you, Cora." He said.

"You should have thought about that before you cheated on me. You can't just appear every time I have a new boyfriend." Every time I was dating a guy, Blaise would show up and make me think we were going to get back together… Of course it would never happen. After six months of this, I promised myself I would move on no matter how bad it makes me feels. "Did you know Pansy wrote him a letter?"

I took a deep breath, "Yes, he tells me everything." Each lie I told him was slowly breaking my heart into pieces. "You know he is probably cheating on you." I shrugged and walked over to my desk sitting behind it. My legs were having a hard time holding me up.

"I know you still love me." I could tell Blaise was getting angry. "What makes you think that?" I chuckled, I know I sounded harsh, but I had to put up a front. "The look you gave me when you saw me." He snapped. He slammed his hands down on my desk and I leaned back calmly. Blaise always terrified me when he was angry. He never laid his hands on me, but he came close a couple of times. I causally slide my wand out of my pocket and placed it in my lap just in case.

"Cora, I will not be made a fool." He yelled knocking off a stack of papers off my desk. I didn't even flinch; I was used to his outburst. "I think you are doing a great job at doing that yourself."

"At least I didn't marry you! Now I'm seeing how much of a skank you really are." He screamed at the top of his lungs. I hand flinched and then balled into a fist. "Get out." I hissed picking my wand up and placing it on my desk as a threat. Blaise and I both knew I could outdo him in a wand duel any day. He gave me one last dirty glare and stormed out of my office.

Draco was leaning against Clark's desk with anger written all over his face. Clark looked terrified and that's when I noticed all the offices nearby were watching. Blaise bumped shoulders with Draco and stormed away. I plopped down roughly in my chair and took a deep breath in. I stared at the wall with an old picture of me and him. I heard the door close lightly, but didn't dare look to see who it was.

"By the way your office looks; I'm guessing you played into my little game." Draco said leaning against my desk. I tore my eyes away from the picture and swallowed my tears, I knew I had tears forming in my eyes, but I wasn't about to let them fall.

"Yes, I guess I'm more terrified of what your name would do than my own pride." I hissed getting up and kneeling down to begin picking up the papers. To my amazement, Draco knelt down and began helping me. I placed them back onto my desk and leaned roughly against it to support my weight. "Has he ever hit you?" Draco asked sitting down on the leather couch that was beside my huge bookcase.

"No, but he has come close a lot." I whispered. Sure, he pushed me a couple of times and grabbed me, but he never slapped or punched me. Draco stared at me a long time; it was an odd stare like he was remembering something. All the people who fought in the Hogwarts War all had flashbacks. I did a lot. A flash of light would go past me and then I remembered everything from the war.

"You really do look beautiful today." Draco said standing up and straightening out his tie. I knew he meant it. I was great at sensing people who were lying and he was telling the truth. I gave him a weak smile, "Thanks."

"Meet me for dinner tonight. Wear something sexy." He said winking. I just nodded and sat down behind my desk. I picked up some paper work and began to look over it. I heard the door close behind him and let out a breath.

000

"I cannot believe you are going with this absolute lie." Hermione hissed as I pulled out three black dresses. Hermione was my best friend; I couldn't keep this from her. "I have no choice! Trust me; if I did I wouldn't be going on a romantic date with Draco Malfoy."

"Didn't you say you used to have a huge crush on Malfoy?" She asked as she handed me the dress I should wear. "Well yes, but that was back in like sixth year. I am keeping up this little act till he gets want he wants and I will go on my merry way. Red or purple heels?"

"Red with bright red lipstick. But, what if you start developing feelings for him?" Hermione called out as I walked into the bathroom. "Psh, not likely. Do you know how many times I have walked in on him snogging or banging a chick in his office? He's vile and I don't want to be another one of his whores." I slide into the strapless black dress and stepped out. I put my red high heels and finished up my make-up. Hermione left to go meet Ron back at the house and I was left to finish my hair.

I pulled on a jacket and walked outside to see Draco dressed in a nice suit. "Malfoy?" I thought I was supposed to meet in at the restaurant. "Might want to start calling me Draco, love." He walked towards me and grabbed my hand kissing my knuckles. "You look very beautiful."

"Who are and what have you done with Draco Malfoy?" I asked. He smirked and wrapped my arm around his arm. With that, we disapprated away from my manor.


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey guys!**

**I see a lot of you are following this story, but I have only gotten a couple of reviews. I love when you guys review because you guys give me ideas! If I don't start getting more reviews, I will probably delete this story. So, if you want it to stay! Get to reviewing! **

**Thanks,**

**Tom Felton Lover999**

000

We were standing in front of my favorite restaurant. A Greek restaurant. How did he know? This place was probably the most difficult place to get into. You had to owl a month in advance just to get a table. "How did you know this was my favorite restaurant?" I whispered staring at the small little brick building that had Greek music blasting through their courtyard. "I didn't. I love this place." He muttered. He took my hand and laced his finger through mine. He pushed his way up to the hostess, who was turning people away left and right.

"Name?"

"Draco Malfoy. I called yesterday." I gapped at him. There was no way. My parents brought me here for my birthday and they called two months beforehand, then we still had to wait two hours. "Mr. Malfoy! Right on time!" A man with a thick Greek accent walked forward grabbing two menus. Holy shit that was the owner of the damn place! Draco gave me a huge cocky smile and shook his hand.

"And this must be your date."

"Yes, sir. This is Cora Rella." His broke out in a huge smile. "Brilliant. She is Greek. I approve, Mr. Malfoy! Follow me to your table." Draco wrapped his arm around my shoulder and led me into the restaurant. I glanced around and saw a lot of people I work with on dates with their wives or girlfriends… And here I was on a fake date, so Draco can get Pansy Parkinson back and for his father to hand over his money. The owner led us towards the very back of the restaurant were hardly anyone was. I saw our table and nearly had a heart attack. It was right in front of a large window that overlooks their beautiful courtyard. The courtyard was lit up with many different candles and a giant water fountain was in the middle of it. It was extremely romantic. It would be even more romantic if I wasn't here by force. The owner pulled out my chair and took my coat from me. I sat down and stared at the window. This would have been the most perfect night, if I was with someone I actually loved.

Draco sat down and ordered their most expensive wine. I told the waitress my order and she left to grab us our salads and bread. "It's beautiful, isn't it?"

"It really is." I muttered. I couldn't take my eyes off the courtyard. "I always make sure I get this table." He said pouring himself a glass of wine. He took my glass and poured mine as well. I gave him a weak smile and clanked my glass to his. I took a sip and closed my eyes as the warmness of the wine slid down my throat. This was probably the best wine I have ever tasted in all my life.

"Good?" Draco said placing his glass gently back on the table. "Very. So, tell me, Mr. Malfoy, do you bring all your dates to such a beautifully romantic location?" I asked flirty as the waitress walked over with our salads. I began eating my salad as slowly as I possibly could. Draco was always very big on manners, so I didn't want to disgust him with my eating habits. I don't know I even cared. It wasn't like this was actually a date. "No, the only person I have brought here was Pansy. She didn't seem to enjoy it as must as you though." He shrugged and went back to eating. I took another slip of my wine and tried calming down. I was starting to get worked up. I knew I had to act a certain way for people to believe that we were together, but I wasn't the best actress. How was I going to keep this up?

"Why did you bring me here?" I asked. I had no idea why that question came falling out of my mouth, but it did and now I was actually worried on what he was going to say. Why did I care? This wasn't a real date.

_Get yourself together, Cora. This is bloody Draco Malfoy. He's just using you to get what he wants. _

"Honestly?" I just slowly nodded. "You are a very classy woman. You aren't just a whore that I picked up at a pub. The media wouldn't have believed us anyways if I took you somewhere else." Did Draco Malfoy just give me compliment? Sure, it was a backhanded compliment, but it was still a compliment. He chuckled and went back to eating. I quickly picked up my glass and took a large gulp of wine. I finished off my salad and soon our main course was brought out to us. We ate in silence for a long time. I kept my mouth shut and my glass full. Between mouthfuls I would take a peek at the courtyard.

"Do you still have flashbacks?" Draco asked me gently. I glanced over at him and nodded. "Some worse than others." He nodded and took a slip of his wine. He picked up the bottom and laughed, "How many glasses have you had, Cora?" I held up three fingers and finished chewing the food that was in my mouth.

"I forgot you can hold your own. All the Slytherin parties and I don't ever remember seeing you drunk." He chuckled and finished off the bottle by pouring the rest into his glass. "It runs in my blood. Greeks, that is." I smiled and began tearing a piece of bread off. "I suppose the bread is soaking it up as well." I said chuckling. I began buttering my piece of bread when I felt eyes on me. I glanced up, to see Draco's grey eyes staring straight at me. He didn't break eye contact once he grabbed my eyes with his. My heart was racing. His eyes. Those things were always making me melt. His eyes held some much behind them: secrets, love, happiness, sadness, and something else. Was it wonder?

"Would you two care for desert?" Draco smiled and looked up at the waitress. She was a small girl with big brown eyes and long red-brown hair that was thrown up in a ponytail. "No thank you. May I get the check though?"

"Of course, Mr. Malfoy." She smiled and walked away. "Would you like to go get some ice cream? Or do you have a curfew?" He chuckled drinking the last of his wine. "That would be great." I said. I finished off my glass as Draco paid the bill and felt like someone was watching me. I glanced up and looked over Draco's shoulder at a pair of eyes I was so used to seeing. Blaise Zabini. My breath hitched in my throat and Draco looked up concerned. I must have sounded like I was choking and I knew I had to be shaking. Blaise was with Theodore Nott and Marcus Flint. Nott was married and had a daughter on the way. Flint was married to a gorgeous blonde girl that had to be an arranged marriage. They had two children, a boy and a girl.

"Cora?" Draco grabbed my hand and I shook my head glancing down at his hand. He was gripping my hand and looked like he had been calling me awhile. "Are you alright? You're shaking."

"Blaise is here." I whispered still staring down at Draco's hand on mine. His hand flinched and he glanced over his shoulder. "I see he brought his thugs. Follow my lead." He stood up and held his hand out to me. I placed my hand gently into his and he helped me up. He placed his coat on and then helped me put mine on. I was starting to get afraid on what Draco was going to do. He wrapped his arm around my waist and I flinched when I felt his hand brush against my butt. I bit down on my lip to keep from blowing up at him.

"Do remember I am very gifted at charms?" I hissed. Draco smirked, "Trust me, I remember." He leaned down and kissed me on the forehead. A shiver went down my spine, but it was a good shiver and that terrified me. He chuckled and smirked when he locked eyes with Blaise. My heart stopped beating as I felt Draco leading me straight towards their table. "Be sexy as hell." Draco mumbled.

"I don't know how." I whispered back placing a fake smirk across my face. Slytherins always knew how to act fake. Theodore Nott stood up quickly and kissed me on both cheeks. "How are you, Cora?" I have never had a problem with Nott. He was always such a sweetheart until you get him drinking. "I'm doing great. Congratulations on the daughter on the way." I said smiling. He grinned and said thanks before sitting back down. Marcus eyed me up and down before standing up greeting me. Both Draco and Blaise tensed up as Marcus kissed my cheeks.

"I will never know why anyone would give you up." He said huskily in my ear. I took a step back from him and Draco wrapped his arm back around my waist. "I trust me, Flint. I will never let this little minx go unlike some people who like to break girl's hearts." Draco hissed staring right at Blaise. Blaise stood up quickly and I took a step in front of Draco with my hand in my pocket gripping my wand. Blaise stared down at me fully aware that I had my wand in my pocket.

Draco wrapped both of his arms around my waist and leaned down kissing my neck lightly. "Let's go, love."

I was beyond angry, so I did the one thing I knew that would make Blaise's blood boil. I smirked and turned around to face Draco. I yanked his head down and crashed my lips into his.


	5. Chapter 5

What did I just do? What the hell did I just do?! I was finally home from my little date with Malfoy. My fake date with Malfoy. We went to go get ice cream after dinner and everything seemed fine. It didn't seem to bother Draco at all, but me… Now that was a totally different story. I had actually enjoyed it. A lot. A lot more than I should have. I have had never felt like that when I was kissing Blaise. Every time, Draco so much as touch me I turn into a little school girl. What was wrong with me?! I have hated him for so long. Was I just trying to mask my true feelings for him?

I did have crush on him when I was younger, but that was before I got on the Qudditch team. I remember it just like it was yesterday. It was third year and our game against Ravenclaw was coming up.

"_Very good, Rella!" I smiled and tossed the quaffle between my hands. I was the first girl every to be on the Qudditch team in over forty years and I was damned proud of it. "So what, she threw a ball through a hoop. Big deal!" I heard Draco hissed. I rolled my eyes and flew towards the group. "She just dodged through our best chasers like they were dust. Have some respect, mate." Nott said patting me on the back like I was one of the guys. I grinned and tossed the quaffle to him. _

"_Don't be jealous, Malfoy. It is not becoming." I chuckled. I glanced down at the benches to see Blaise talking to Crabbe. He glanced up at me and winked. I blushed and looked away. Draco glanced down at Blaise and shook his head. "Just because you have all these idiots fooled, it doesn't mean I am falling for it." Draco snapped. _

"_What are you talking about? Didn't your father buy your way onto the team? I just showed up and got on the team on pure talent." I snapped back. I wasn't about to aloud him to talk to me like that. He may talk to others like that, but I wasn't about to have him walk all over me because of who his father was. He glared at me; the whole team was staring at me like I had grown five heads. No one ever talked back to Draco Malfoy before. _

"_Cat got your tongue or do you just not have a good comeback?" I hissed smirking. Draco ignored me and turned towards our captain. "Is practice over?" _

"_Yes." Draco took off towards the ground and jumped off his broom so fast. He stormed away with Blaise and Crabbe behind him. Blaise turned around and gave me the thumbs up. I laughed and touched down on the ground. _

I plopped down on my bed and didn't even bother taking off my dress. I pulled my brown hair in a messy bun. I tossed my heels into the closet and covered myself with my blanket. I should've known back then that Blaise liked me and that Draco hated me. I blew out my candle and tried my hardest to go to sleep.

000

I kicked off my shoes and order a drink. "Make sure you make it as strong as possible." I yelled over my shoulder as I dropped down behind my desk in my study. Well, dinner was interesting. Cora Rella bloody kissed me… and I really enjoyed it. I tried my hardest to act like I was fine with it, but I was so confused. Why did I enjoy it? I loved Pansy, didn't I? I just couldn't get those pale pink full lips out of my head. Her hazel eyes bored into mine all dinner and that smiled. She had these lovely dimples, so every time that she smiled, they were seen on her cheeks, which made me go mad.

She looked gorgeous as always. The dress she wore fit her perfectly. It showed off all her curves in the right areas. The dress made her breast seem even larger and her arse looked brilliant. Cora had a wonderful body, years of Qudditch worked wonders. I remembered when she joined back in third year. She was the first female on the Qudditch team in years.

_I watched carefully as Cora dodged through the chasers like they were nothing. Her thick brown hair was flowing in the wind and pieces of her hair were falling out of the braid. She made three goals in a row with a giant smile plastered on her face. She was gorgeous. She had to be the best looking girl in our year. I had even caught Weasley and Thomas checking her out as she walked by. "Very good, Rella!" She flew over to us and tossed the quaffle between her hands. "So what, she threw a ball through a hoop. Big deal!" I hissed. She rolled her eyes and turned her attention towards Nott. "She just dodged through our best chasers like they were dust. Have some respect, mate." Nott said patting her on the back like she was one of the guys. She smirked and tossed the quaffle to him. I don't know why, but I hated that Nott had touched her. How dare he?_

"_Don't be jealous, Malfoy. It is not becoming." She chuckled. I noticed her glancing down towards the ground and followed her eyes. She was looking straight at Zabini and he had caught her, throwing her a wink her way. She had all these males under a spell and I wasn't about to be one of them. "Just because you have all these idiots fooled, it doesn't mean I am falling for it." I snapped. _

"_What are you talking about? Didn't your father buy your way onto the team? I just showed up and got on the team on pure talent." She snapped back with so much anger. I was shocked, how was I supposed answer that? She was right. I have never had anyone, especially a girl, snap at me like that. That's when I knew what all the fuss was about her. She was different than all the other girls and that's what made all these boys go mad. _

"_Cat got your tongue or do you just not have a good comeback?" She hissed smirking. I ignored her and turned towards our captain. "Is practice over?" _

"_Yes." I took off towards the ground and jumped off my broom so fast. "Stupid girl." I hissed as Zabini and Crabbe followed after me. "But she's bloody brilliant, isn't she?" Zabini said in awe. "I mean no one has ever spoken to you like that. That's bloody hot. She doesn't give a care in the world on who you are." _

"_Shut up, Zabini. She is a looker, but nothing more than that." I snapped over my shoulder. Sure, I had just lied, but I couldn't tell him that I was already falling in love with her. _

"Here you go, Master Malfoy." I took the glass of Firewhisky. I chugged it and winced at the strongest of the liquor fell down my throat. I shook my head and smoothed out the Daily Prophet that was sitting in front of me.

_**BLAISE ZABINI AND CORA RELLA CALL OFF ENGAGMENT. **_

"Cora Rella back on the market." I muttered staring at the picture of her smiling and her finger empty of a giant diamond. That very same ring was now on Pansy's fat finger. He knew why Blaise went after Pansy and it made him sick. Blaise knew that Pansy was easy and his mother would be pleased to know he had her. The Rella family was not seen as high as Parkinson's. They were pureblood Greeks that moved to England when her mother was pregnant with Cora's elder sister. Her father had a thick Greek accent and her mother was from Ireland. Her father wasn't a Death Eater and was absolutely furious when Cora was forced to get one. Her parents kept to themselves and that hurt their blood status greatly.

There was a knock at my office door and I muttered a come in. I didn't know who it was and I could care less on whom it was. "Hey mate." I glanced up to see Nott plopped down on his leather couch. "Nott?"

"Did you think I was Blaise coming to kick your ass?" He chuckled. I shook my head and placed the paper away from sight. "Are you really dating her or just doing it for your father?"

"What do you think?" There was no point in lying to Nott. He could always see right through me. He worked in the same department as Cora and I, so we had formed some sort of friendship. During school years, we did not get along at all. "Don't you think she has been through enough heartache?" I knew Nott always treated Cora like his sister and they actually had a decent relationship.

I didn't want to answer him. I knew what I was doing was wrong, but I was really enjoying it. I liked being around Cora. I loved being able to hold her. I have been bloody in love with her since third year; I was just too blind to see it.

"You love her, don't you?" Nott sat up and grinned. I looked up and shook my head. "Of course not. She's beautiful, but that's it." He laughed and stood up walking closer to my desk with a giant smirk on his face. "You never call a girl beautiful, not even when you were dating Parkinson. You thought your father would like that, but actually he threatened your precious money and you dumped her like that. That smile on your face after she kissed you was what told me. You love Cora Rella. Welcome to the crowd." He picked up my glass and took a chug of my Firewhisky.

"She would never love me." I whispered as he went to leave. "You are blind, aren't you?" I raised an eyebrow and leaned back in my chair. "Next time you hang out with her… Look further behind those hazel eyes."


	6. Chapter 6

I stared down at the document in front of me. I have been here since six this morning. Apparently, Draco messed up our documents for our new clients and they couldn't get ahold of him this morning, so they owled me instead. I rubbed my forehead feeling a headache coming on. I really didn't want to see Draco this morning. I wasn't really sure how I was supposed to act towards him after our date last night… And the kiss.

There was a light knock at my door and I muttered a 'come in'. "Cora?" I glanced up at Draco as he shut the door behind him. Since when did he start knocking on my door? He always used to just slam my door open and storm in like he owned the place. I looked him over and saw the dark circles that were underneath his eyes.

"Bloody hell, you look like shit." I said. I picked up my wand and muttered a spell to light the fireplace. "Well thank you, Rella. I'll have you know I didn't get much sleep last night." He plopped down on my couch and closed his eyes. I shook my head and went back to correcting the document.

"What I would like to know is how you mess up on this document so badly? This isn't like you." I finished the first page and initialed it, and then I turned to the second page. "I have had a lot on my mind lately." He muttered behind his hand. I didn't say another word, I just continued on with my work. I have been thinking a lot about what happened last night and I realized one thing for sure.

My old feelings for Draco were slowing returning.

And the second thing I realized was that I really loved that kissed we shared last night. "So, did you only kiss me because of Zabini?" Draco asked sitting up and rubbing his eyes. I didn't answer him; I just kept my head down so he wouldn't see the blush that was creeping across my cheeks. I felt a small press on my chin and looked up into the eyes of Draco. My heart melted and I knew he was seeing the blush that across my face now.

"I really did enjoy that kiss last night." He ran his thumb over my bottom lip and licked his own. "I need to get back to work, Draco" I whispered leaning away from his touch. He frowned a little bit and stood up fully. He nodded and left my office quickly. I sighed and dropped my quill onto the document leaning back in my chair. I picked up my wand and looked at it careful. This wand had actually killed and saved many people. I remembered getting it like it was yesterday. Draco and Blaise were standing in front of me and my father getting their wands. I couldn't help, but laugh every time a wand blew up in Draco's face. I remember him turning around and glared at me, but once I gave him a smile, he began laughing.

Draco could be sweet when he wanted to be, but it was like his father had and always will have control over Draco. That's why Draco was so messed up. He didn't have to save my life during the war, but he did.

"_Blaise!" I screamed jogging down the hallway of the crumbling castle. We were locked up in the dungeon because Pansy effin' Parkinson had to threaten Potter. He was right behind me and now he was gone. I heard a scream and looked up to see a second year Hufflepuff girl being knocked over by a spell. "Oi!" The Death Eater turned his attention towards me and shot a spell at me. I easily blocked it and fired one right back at him. He fell to the ground unconscious and I ran over to the girl. I yanked her up and checked her over to make sure she didn't have any horrible injuries. She had bright red hair that was in pigtails. "Is he dead?" _

"_No, just knocked out. Now run!" I pushed her slightly and she took off running with her wand clutched in her left hand. I took off running into the courtyard hoping that I would be able to spot Blaise. Once, I made my way outside I froze. There were dead bodies everywhere and giants were smashing people with cubs, and there were giant spiders running around. It was total chaos. "No! I'm a pureblood!" I saw Daphne Greengrass dodging green light and I saw a hooded Death Eater attacking her. _

"_They don't even care who they are attacking now." I muttered to myself. I yelled a spell and the man went flying away from her. I rushed over to her and helped her up. "They are attacking Slytherins." She muttered. "Then start firing back." I felt something hit me hard in the back and I went flying into a stone block. I grunted and looked up to see a hooded man. _

_My wand was lying about a foot away from me, but I knew I would never be able to reach it in time. I glanced around to see if Daphne would help me, but all I saw was her retreating back. I growled and the Death Eater raised his wand up ready to strike me down. I stood up and held my hands up. Maybe just maybe I could just dodge it and jump behind the giant rock that was behind me. The man chuckled and pointed his wand right at me. There was no way I was going to survive this. I closed my eyes tight and waited, but instead of getting hit with a spell, I felt someone shoving me to the ground. I opened my eyes to be staring right into sliver ones. "Draco?" I whispered. He yanked me up and held me behind him like he was protecting me. I picked up my wand right when he grabbed my arm pulling me away quickly. _

_He pulled me behind a pillar and grabbed my face checking me over. I noticed how dirty he was and the small cuts all over his face. "I'm fine, I'm fine." I whispered pushing his hands away from me. "You're not. You're bleeding badly." I knew he was right because I felt blood dripping down my back. The pillar beside us explodes and I screamed covering my face. "Come on, I lost Pansy and Blaise." He grabbed my hand and we took off running. _

I shook myself out of my flashback and swallowed back my tears. I should've known then that my feelings hadn't completely disappeared. He actually cared about me and looked me over when he saved me. Once, I found Blaise, he barely looked at me. He just snatched me away from Draco and we took off running like cowards.

There was a light knock at my door and Draco strolled in again. "Do you want to get lunch?" I raised an eyebrow and glanced over at my clock. Bloody hell, it was one. I stared down at the documents and somehow I was on page four. How did I have a daydream and so much time went by? I didn't even realize how much time had gone by. "Yes, where to?"

He smiled a very rare thing and sat down in front of my desk. "You pick. I owe you for saving my arse today." He said gesturing down to the documents. I shook my head, "Are you feeling alright?" He chuckled, "I'm just starting to see how incredible you are and you should be treated right."

I shook my head and grabbed my jacket. "You know I really do not like this cheesy Draco Malfoy." He laughed and shook his head. "To be honest with you, I kind of hate it as well." He held out his hand and I took it. I would be lying if I said I wasn't enjoying being his fake girlfriend. Draco was actually an okay guy, when he wanted to be.


	7. Chapter 7

It's been a week since Draco and I started our fake relationship. Draco was actually treating me like a princess. At first, I thought he was just doing it for the media, but now I was starting to see that he was just being nice and caring. It was Saturday night and I was getting ready for our weekend date. I knew tonight we were going to this new French restaurant that had personally invited Draco. Draco told me that his father owled him two days ago and said how pleased he was that we were dating… Then this restaurant magically invites him, I knew his father had a part behind that, but I didn't say anything. It scared me slightly to know what would happen if Lucius found out that this was fake relationship.

I tugged on royal blue dress and pulled my hair into an elegant ponytail. I curled my ponytail and placed my earrings in. I heard the doorbell ring and glanced over at the clock. If that was Draco, he was an hour early. I jogged down the stairs and heard whoever was at the door was pounding their fist heavily against my door. I had sent my house-elf to my parents' house because they were hosting a giant party and they needed an extra house-elf. "I'm coming!"

I yanked open the door and was shoved back roughly. I glanced up and froze when I saw a very drunk Blaise stumbling into my house. "What are you doing here?" I was panicking, I didn't have my wand on me and there was just something telling me to run.

"Well aren't you just all dressed up. Where are you doing, huh?" I took three steps back and Blaise took a giant step towards me. "Why is that any of your concern?" I hissed taking another step back. I was praying that Draco would show up early. I wished I had my wand. I could defend myself better. Right now, I just felt helpless and the evil smirk on Blaise's face wasn't making me feel any better.

"Where's that wand of yours? Eh?" He grabbed my arm and yanked me towards him. I could smell the Firewhisky on his breath and that's when I really began to panic. I could curse and hex all day, but when it came to a hand to hand fight, it turns awful. "Let go." I yelled trying to yank my arm away from him. He pushed me back and I tripped over my own two feet. I slammed into the wall and grunted. Blaise rushed over to me and slammed his fist into my stomach. I grabbed the nearest object and crashed it into his head. He stumbled backwards and that's when I took my chance to run. I was half way up the stairs when Blaise grabbed my ankle yanking me back. My face slammed into the marble stair. I gasped and felt the blood dripping down my forehead. I kicked him in the face and took off to my room. I slammed the door behind me and locked it. I grabbed my wand and disapprated.

000

I groaned and looked up at the Malfoy Manor. I stood up and ran to the front door. I pounded on it and felt my body begin to get weak. The door opened and I saw a tiny little house-elf. "Oh Miss Cora!" The house-elf grabbed my hand and pulled me in. I saw down roughly on a chair and leaned my head back.

"Cora?" I looked up to see Draco half dress jogging down the stairs. "Oh my God! You're bleeding." He touched my head lightly and I jerked back. He looked me over and brushed his fingers over my bruising arm. My knees were bleeding and I knew I looked a mess. My dressed was ripped and my hair was falling out of my ponytail. "Who did this to you?" He asked knelling in front of me. He pulled out his hand and began healing my knees. "He just showed up at my house. I thought it was you, so I answered it. He was so drunk." I whispered feeling the tears starting to leaking out of my eyes. I couldn't hold them back anymore.

"Who did this to you?" Draco asked again, but firmer this time. I swallowed and wiped the tears off my cheeks. "Who do you think?" I hissed. Draco gripped his wand tighter and began healing my head. His house-elf brought him a towel and he handed it to me. I began wiping off the blood that was drying on my head. "I'm going to go owl to restaurant letting them know we are not attending and I will owl the ministry about Blaise. Go to Rella Manor and pack her a bag, she's stay here tonight." His house-elf nodded and was gone in a pop.

Draco picked me up bridal style and began carrying me up the stairs. I rested my head against his shoulder and slowly relaxed in his arms. He kicked opened a door and walked in. It was his bedroom. It was all in dark greens and blacks. He had a giant closet and a fireplace. His room was a lot bigger than mine. He pulled back his sheets and placed me onto his bed. He walked over to his desk and pulled out two new parchment. He wrote quickly and walked over to his window letting out a low whistle. A beautiful eagle owl flew in the room and gave a deep hoot.

"Hey Dotty. Take this to the restaurant first and then this one to the ministry. Hurry along!" He attached the letters to her leg and she flew out of his room in a flash. "Dotty?" I asked chuckling. I would never guess that Draco would name his owl 'Dotty'.

"Mother named her. I have had her since I was ten." He plopped down on his bed and pulled off his tux jacket. "How are you? I knew I should've gone earlier, but work came up." I nodded and shrugged. I just wanted to go to sleep, but I was scared too. Now I was terrified of Blaise. I wasn't before, but now I knew he dangerous he could get.

"Why didn't you curse him?"

"I left it upstairs. Man, I just brought this dress a month ago. 400 Gallons and I didn't even get to enjoy it." I said laughing and looking at the rip. "It looks great on you. I'm sure we can get it fixed." He rubbed my back and I winced pulling away from him. He frowned and sat me up. He unzipped the back of my dressed and pulled it down. I heard him growl and I knew there had to be a bruise on my back.

He got up and walked over to his drawer. He pulled out a t-shirt and boxers. He held them out to me and I took them walking into his bathroom. I dropped my dress on the ground and slid on his black boxers. I winced and slowly placed on the t-shirt. I redid my ponytail and pulled out my wand to heal my bruises.

I looked at myself in the mirror before stepping out. Draco was placing my bags on the ground and turned around. His jaw slightly dropped, but he quickly recovered. "Oh wow. You look adorable." I smiled weakly and tugged on his shirt awkwardly.

"You can either stay in here with me or in a guest room. Your pick." He said smiling.

"I need to be with someone right now." He smiled and nodded.


	8. Chapter 8

"So, you are saying that Mr. Zabini just showed up at your house and attacked you?" Draco rolled my eyes and I gritted my teeth together. An Auror had just arrested Blaise and now they were questioning me. I was livid. "He's drunk! Do you really think I did this to myself?!"

"Why would Mr. Zabini do such a thing? He's engaged and getting married in two months. Why would he go after an ex-girlfriend?" This man was seriously testing my patience. "Because I'm dating Draco. Haven't I already told you this?!" I yelled. Lucius and my father were talking quietly in the next room, and the minute they heard me yell that came dashing out at full speed. My father stepped forward and looked as if he was about to curse the Auror. My father has always been extremely protective over me and right now he was at level 5 of protecting.

"Are you implying that my son could have caused Ms. Rella harm?" Lucius hissed. I was still dressed in Draco's t-shirt and boxers, and when Lucius saw that when he first arrived he had a giant grin on his face. The Auror glanced nervously around and shook his head, "Of course not, sir. We are just covering all surfaces."

"My daughter needs her rest, are we done here?" The Auror nodded and left quickly. I stood up from my chair and growled kicking over the chair. My father sat down and sighed. Lucius sighed and leaned heavily against his cane. I walked over to the fireplace and stared into it. I knew there was going to be a huge article about this tomorrow. I knew it was going to be against me. Pansy was one of the heads of the Daily Prophet. Draco walked over to me and wrapped his arms around my waist. Since, Lucius was here, Draco was really acting like the concern boyfriend. He was acting concern before they got here, but now he was going to the next extreme. I didn't hate it.

"They are going to drag my name through the mud." I whispered leaning my head against his chest. He sighed, "I know."

"You are really laying it on thick for your father." I whispered. I felt him tensed up and he pulled me back staring at me. "I need to tell you something, Cora." I nodded and waited for him to stare talking, but the second he opened his mouth, my father called me over.

000

I needed to tell her how I felt. I couldn't just keep acting like these were fake feelings. I was about to tell her everything when her father called me over. I felt colder once she left my arms and watched as she slowly walked towards her father. I sighed as my father walked towards me. He patted me roughly on the back and gave me a smirk.

"I'm so proud of you for finally getting with Rella. This whole stunt with Zabini is going to be tough for her." He wasn't even concern about Cora. He was worried about when I was going to pop the question to her.

"We are talking about this right now." I hissed. "We have only been dating a month. Don't you think it would look odd, if I just asked her to marry me after all of this happened." Lucius grin got bigger and I knew I had just helped form a plan in his head. I crossed my arms and watch him glance over his shoulder.

"The media will think she's pregnant. And we can say that is why Zabini attacked her." My eyes widened. I mean that would make Blaise look awful, but I didn't want to ruin his life. I looked over at Cora to see her glaring at her father. I just wanted Cora. I wanted to make her happy. "Then when she doesn't start showing, we can say she miscarried."

"No! That's taking it too far. I'm not doing that." I walked away from him and interrupted Mr. Rella. "I need to speak with you." I grabbed her hand and pulled her up the stairs. I pulled her into my study and closed the door behind me locking it.

000

My father was talking to me about how I needed to go ahead and marry Draco. I loved Draco, but I didn't want to force Draco into anything. Thankfully, Draco dragged me away before I cursed my own father. He pulled me into his study and locked the door behind us. "Cora."

There was a look in his eyes that told me he was about to pour his soul out to me. I sat down on the closest chair I could find and waited for him to speak. He took a deep breath and ran his hand over his face. "At first this whole thing was just a plot to get my money and to have Pansy back. Recently, I have discovered something… I like you. A lot." My heart stopped. He was being serious. He actually liked me. I was always able to tell if someone was lying and Draco was not lying right now.

"I have liked you since third year, but at the end of third year you began dating that Ravenclaw bloke. The Yule Ball came and I had already asked Pansy. I remember exactly what you wore. A dark green strapless gown and your hair was really curly. You caught mine and Zabini's attention. And then when you and that bloke broke up at beginning of fifth year… I was on my way to go ask you out when Nott came walking by telling me about how Zabini did. And then during the war…" Tears started falling down his face. He quickly wiped them away and I smiled. That was the first time I have ever seen Draco show an ounce of emotion in all my years of knowing him.

"When that Death Eater stood over you with his wand pointed at you… I have never run so fast before in my life. Pansy wasn't even in my mind… You were. Then once we found Zabini and Pansy… He didn't so much as make sure you were alright. I always tried to push my feelings for you to the side because I thought you were happy with Zabini, but now that I see… You never were. I'm not going to let you go now once I have figured out everything. Twenty-two years it took me to realize that you are the only girl I want." He took a deep breath and stared at me waiting for me to say something. I was so shocked that I couldn't form any words.

So, I did the only thing I could think of.

I kissed him.

Hard. All of my feelings that I have ever had for this blonde headed git was in that kiss.


	9. Chapter 9

"What are we going to do about Blaise?" I whispered leaning back away from his lips. He smirked and leaned his forehead against mine. "I'll figure something out." He whispered back. I sat down pulling him down with me. He chuckled and crashed his lips into mine again. I leaned back and stared at him for a long time. This was going to be difficult. If we take Blaise to court for attacking me, Pansy will turn the entire wizarding world against us using the Daily Prophet. "What are you thinking?" Draco whispered grabbing my chin lightly.

"If we personally attack Blaise, Pansy is going to kill our names using the Daily Prophet." Draco drummed his fingers over my arm and smirked. "Do you really think Pansy gives a shit about Zabini?" I raised an eyebrow. He was being really cocky about this whole thing. I smirked, he had a plan. "You have a plan, don't you?"

"You bet your ass I do. Now I'm going to go get rid of our fathers." He stood up and kissed my forehead. He left his study quickly and I stood up. I walked over to his bookcase and began running my fingers across the spins of the books. I walked over to his oak desk and plopped down in the leather chair behind it. There were about three Daily Prophet copies on his desk. I picked up one and frowned. It was the paper from when we announced our engagement. Blaise had one arm draped around my shoulders. I had my hand out showing off my finger. He went from kissing my cheek to spinning me around. We looked so happy. I was about to place it to the side when I noticed in the third paragraph of the article was a highlighted part.

_**Zabini and Rella have been dating since their fifth year of Hogwarts. "I just could never take my eyes off of her. She was so beautiful, inside and out. I'm glad I bet a bunch of blokes to her." Zabini while staring over at Rella. Rella was known as one of the prettiest Slytherin girls in their year. And Zabini was right not to give her up. **_

Written next to the highlighted part was Draco's sloppy handwriting. 'Liar.' I placed down that paper picked up the next one. It was another one of me and Blaise.

'_Rella and Zabini call off engagement!' _

There was another highlighted part and I folded it to get a better look at it. The paragraph went on to explain that I had caught Blaise cheating on me with Pansy Parkinson. I shook my head smoothed out the paper to see what Draco had written on the side. 'Publicity stunt!'

There was a long thin arrow pointed to a sentence that they said Blaise had said.

_**Cora and I were not working out. Both of us, I believe, were seeing people while we were engaged. I was the one that got caught. We would've never survived marriage. I'm kind of glad that we broke up once we got the chance. **_

I growled and slammed the paper down on the desk. I shook my head and leaned back. I didn't know why I was getting so angry. I have read that before. I read all the Daily Prophets that dealt with our breakup. What I always found odd was that I was never asked for an interview. I was about to pick up the next one when I saw another highlighted part. It was a name right under our picture.

"You have got to be kidding me?" I hissed glaring at the name. The article about our breakup was written by Pansy flipping Parkinson. I quickly picked up the one I read before and it also had Pansy's name highlighted. How did I not see this before? Pansy had written both of these articles. I picked up the three and final paper. I checked the date and saw it was written a month after our breakup. It was a picture of me and Draco walking into the Ministry talking.

'_Malfoy and Rella both single! Will they go out?' _I checked the name and saw it was again written by Pansy. The article broke down how we both became single. Draco highlighted the paragraph about his and Pansy breakup. I have never read this one before. It went on to say that Draco had cheated on Pansy with me. BACK IN HOGWARTS. I gapped at the paper in shocked. They didn't breakup during Hogwarts. I would have known and I would have tried to get on his good side. It went on to say, that they never had a good relationship after that and slowly it broke them apart. I heard footsteps and jumped up making sure everything was in its proper place before I raced over to where I was sitting. The door opened and Draco gave me a smiled.

"Sorry. I got your father out no problem, but my father was the difficult one." He sat down next to me and draped his arm around my shoulders. I didn't bring up the papers, I didn't know if I was supposed to see that or what. I just knew whatever Draco had up his sleeve was going to destroy Blaise Zabini. "What should we do tonight?" I shrugged.

"We go back to work tomorrow. You know it's going to be crazy, right?" He whispered nudging me a little. I nodded and curled up beside him. I didn't know what was going to happen. I didn't know if Blaise was still under arrest. There was no telling what Pansy was going to write in the Prophet tomorrow. All I knew was that I was putting all my trust on Draco and hoping that he would put a stop to it. I trusted Draco, but I was so afraid on what he was going to do. Draco was powerful. Even after the war, the Malfoy name was still one of the most powerful pureblood families ever. They lost a good amount of their wealth, but still had a great deal of it.

That was what happened to my family too. We spent most of our money on trying to clear our name. Draco and I were dragged to court after the war because we were known Death Eaters. I still had the scar where my dark mark used to be. I was almost sent to Azkaban. I still didn't understand that. I was forced to get it. I hadn't killed anyone, I went against everything and yet I was still looked at as a criminal. The Malfoy and Rella name was dragged through the mud.

"Are you alright?"

"I'm fine. Just thinking. Do you think we can order some food?" He smiled and nodded.


	10. Chapter 10

Every time I walked by someone, I would hear whispers. I wanted to rip out Blaise throat for bring my name into the paper yet again. I finally reached my office and grabbed my files from Clark. He gave me a weak smile. I rejusted my purse on my shoulder and looked over at Draco's office. "He hasn't come in yet." Clark said simply. I nodded and walked into my office closing the door behind me. I leaned against the door and took a deep breath. I have never been so stressed out while I walked through the Ministry. Everyone was muttering to each other, while others stopped and stared. I was used to this sort of attention, but this was different. It didn't seem normal. I placed my documents down on my desk and placed my purse down. I hadn't seen what the paper said and I knew Pansy must have bashed me. I walked back out and walked over to Clark.

"Have you gotten the Daily Prophet?" I asked leaning my side against his desk. He held it up and handed it to me. I took it from him and smoothed it out over his desk. "Sorry, I got a little angry." He muttered nodding his head over to the wrinkly paper. I gave him a weak smile and turned my attention back to the paper. I didn't know if I would be able to read this in my office alone, so I decided to read it in front of Clark.

_**Cora Rella is a complete liar!**_

_Rella called Aurors to her manor to arrest Blaise Zabini. Rella said that Zabini had attacked her, but when the Aurors arrived, they noticed not a single scratch on her face. But due to who her father was, they arrested Zabini anyways. There was no proof at all if Zabini had attacked her, but a case will be set for next month. _

"Prefect. Written by Pansy Parkinson." I muttered handing him back the paper. Clark folded it up and placed it to the side. "If it makes you feel better, I believe you. I see the mark on your cheek still." Clark said point to the little scratches over my right cheek. I was glad I hadn't completely healed myself. I needed to show everyone that I really did have marks. Draco came storming up towards us and snatched the Daily Prophet off Clark's desk. "I do not want this rubbish laying around, understood?" He snapped. Clark nodded quickly and took the paper back tearing it up. He tossed it into the trash can and handed Draco all his mail.

"In my office." He said nudging me. I nodded and followed him back to his office where he slammed the door shut. I couldn't tell if I had done something or if someone else did something, but something totally set Draco off. He slammed his belongings on his desk and growled. "I haven't really told you everything I know." I raised an eyebrow. I knew he was about to tell me why he had all those old papers.

"Blaise and Pansy have been together since third year secretly." My jaw dropped. I wasn't expecting that. So, Blaise had cheated on me way before. "They have been engaged since they have been born. They found out at the beginning of third year and thought they would start hooking up. Well they just snogged till about the end of fifth year… then they began shagging." Draco said awkwardly. I thought it was cute how awkward he was acting. He never really showed his emotions and when he did I really loved it.

"So, why did he stay with me?" I asked. "Simple. Publicly stunt." Draco walked around behind his desk and plopped down. I sat down in the leather armchair and propped my feet up on his desk. "How is that a publicly stunt? My family was never extremely popular. We were hardly ever mentioned in the Prophet." And that was true. We were probably the poorest rich pureblood family. If that makes sense? Pretty much all the pureblood families hated us. Dad was always trying to make himself popular, but it would always blow up in his face. "His mother researched your background. She saw how rich your great grandparents were and knew you would receive that money." Well she was right there. When I turned eighteen, I got 30 million gallons while my parents got about 90 million gallons. My mum's grandparents were extremely wealthy and died four days after the Battle at Hogwarts. We were loaded, but my parents wouldn't give me my money till I got a job.

"Then why did he all of sudden dump me?" As much as everyone thought I broke up with him after I caught him… It didn't really happen like that. I always told me people I did break up with him, but the only reason I did that was so they wouldn't ask too many question and so I wouldn't look like wimp. I wanted to work out our problems, but he wasn't having any of that. He just moved out while I was at work then I found out they went public with their relationship. "Pansy was pregnant." Draco said bluntly as possible. I blinked and stood up slowly. Draco looked nervous once I leaned against his desk. He probably thought I was going to attack him.

"I hired someone to tail them. Ever since sixth year, I felt like something was off, so when he broke up with you… I hired someone. That person just came forward about three weeks ago." I slowly sat back down. Blaise broke up with me because Pansy got pregnant. Why didn't they get engaged faster than? Having a child before marriage was majorly frown upon in the wizarding world, especially if you were a pureblood…

"Was? What happened to the baby?"

"Miscarried. Her parents found out and were outraged, so they forced them to get engaged."

I sighed, "What is exactly your plan? Because everyone is looking at me like I am a liar." He grinned and handed me a piece of parchment. I unfolded it and read it over quickly. It was an article written about Pansy getting pregnant and how Blaise was cheating on me forever. Then at the bottom was a picture of all my bruises and cuts that Blaise gave me. So, that's why Draco took all those pictures. "Blackmail?"

"I'm going to ask Pansy to give a report about her false reporting or I am getting my buddy to publish that bad boy." He said leaning back in his chair with a big smirk on his face. I smiled, he was clever. I'll give him that. Draco knew how to blackmail and do it the right way. There was no way she would say no.

"Who's your buddy?"

"Theodore Nott's wife." My jaw dropped. Theo's wife was the one read over every single Daily Prophet article. She was Pansy's boss. This was perfection. He saw my reaction and grinned. "This will be over soon." I believe him. If Pansy said no, her whole reputation along with Blaise's would be completely ruined.


	11. Chapter 11

I drummed my fingers across my cheek as I stared down at the document lying out in front of me. I was trying to figure a way out how I was going to end it perfectly, but I was coming to a complete blank. I knew Draco was down at the Daily Prophet causing some drama. I just didn't want my name being dragged into the paper again. I heard a gentle knock at my door, "Come in." I muttered.

Clark walked in with a letter in his hands. "It's from Mr. Malfoy." I jumped up from behind my desk and rushed around snatching the letter from his hands. I took a deep breath. I really didn't want to have to bail him out. Clark left my office and I tore up open the letter.

_Cora, _

_We are battling it out at this very moment. When you are done with work come to my manor, please. Can't wait to see you._

_Draco._

I smiled and folded up the letter placing it in my purse. I sat down and finished off the document. I signed it and stood up to go give it to Clark to owl. My door slammed opened and it wasn't Clark this time. It was bloody Pansy Parkinson. Clark jogged in seconds later breathing heavily, "Sorry, Ms. Rella, she just pushed herself in!"

"No problem, Clark. Will you owl this off me?" Clark glanced between me and Pansy, then took a deep breath taking the document from my hands. He left and closed the door behind him. I glanced over at my desk and saw my wand lying underneath my purse. "What do you want, Parkinson?" I hissed.

"Your boyfriend is blackmailing me." She hissed clutching her fist at her sides. "Yeah, well that's what you get for mess with not only me, but Draco as well." She growled and took a step closer to me. I held my ground, I wasn't about to let this bitch scare me.

"Make him stop." I snorted and rolled my eyes. I walked back around my desk and sat down. What was she four? I couldn't make Draco do anything. I was his girlfriend, not his wife. Was I his girlfriend? I wasn't really sure. "I can't make him do anything. Parkinson, you messed with the wrong people." I packed up my purse and placed my wand in my sweater pocket. She glanced around and sighed.

"I love Draco." She whispered. I rolled my eyes again. I saw right through this little act. If she really wanted me to believe me, she would have been a better actress. "Bullshit. Get out. Sue us, but listen and listen closely… Draco and I are happy. If you want to continue to spread lies, you will have a lawsuit on your hands… Trust me. Now get out." She huffed and turned to leave, but paused. She slowly turned around and this time I could see that she wasn't acting. She really did have tears in her eyes.

"Why does everyone love you? Why can't I just have Blaise?" She hissed walking out slamming the door hard behind her. I flinched at the bang and began to gather up my things. As I walked towards the fireplaces to floo to Draco's, I couldn't help, but hear Pansy's voice floating through my head. What was she saying? That Blaise still loved me. If he loved me so much, then why did he attack me at my manor? I didn't trust Pansy, but there was just something in her eyes that told me she was in trouble. I didn't know why she would be in trouble, but I just had a gut feeling something was not right. I stepped into the fireplace and picked up a handful of floo powder.

"Malfoy Manor" I hissed throwing down the floo powder.

000

I stumbled out of the fireplace and brushed the soot from my sweater. I placed my purse down on the chair by the fireplace and called out to Draco. His house-elf walked over to me and handed me a cup of tea. "Where is he?" I asked leaning down to take my tea from his house-elf.

"His office, madam." I nodded and walked towards his office. I stopped in front of his office door and knocked gently. "Come in!" I pushed open the door to see Draco staring down at a stack of papers. I sighed and walked over to him. He looked beyond stressed. I placed my tea down and walked behind him. I wrapped my arms around his shoulders and rested my chin on his shoulder. He relaxed and rested his head on mine. "She came to my office."

"She knew I was coming. Her and Blaise's lawyer was there waiting for me. He said I couldn't legally do that because it was blackmail. He's wrong through. Pansy isn't the one that gives the okay on the articles, Nott's wife does. I handed her the article and she was going to talk to Pansy. She said she was either going to fire her or force her to tell the truth." Draco said and handed me to article that he had written. I took it and stood up reading it over. It was brilliant. It wasn't completely bashing her and Blaise, but it got the job done. Draco wrapped his arms around my waist and tugged me down placing me on his lap.

"This is great! Your writing skills are incredible." I whispered placing the article down and turning around to kiss him on the cheek. Draco smirked, "That's how I get all our clients. You're welcome." I swatted him on the shoulder and chuckled. He was right, I had read over his documents and letters… He just knew how to drag people in. That's how he trapped you in his little web. Not even his writing skills, his personality. That's how he got me.

"What did she say to you? You look a little off, love." He kissed my head and rested his chin on my shoulder. If you would have told me, I would be dating Draco and loving every second of it, I would have laughed in your face and walked away… Now I was seeing and wondering how the hell had I survived without him. He saved me during the war and I was wondering what else he had done for me that I hadn't known about. "Something is off. Something is not right. You should have seen her."

"She's a good actress."

"No, she isn't. I saw right through it, but before she left my office… I don't know there was just something that wasn't right." She looked like she was in pain. I didn't know whether it was because she really did love Draco, or if Blaise had told her he didn't love her. She just looked beyond hurt. I was wondering if he was hitting her like he beat me up. Draco sighed and rubbed my back. "I'm figuring this all out. Don't worry about that." I trusted him. I really did. The first person besides my parents I really truly trusted with my whole heart. My heart swelled every time I was around him. I loved him. I wanted to spend my whole life with him. Wasn't this all happening a little too fast?


	12. Chapter 12

I had just finished off all my work and was pulling on my jacket when there was a light knock at my door. I took a deep breath, yesterday Pansy Parkinson stormed through my office and I was really hoping it wasn't Blaise this time. "Come in." I muttered tucking my wand into my pocket. Draco scrolled in with his hands deep into his pockets. "I'm glad I caught you before you left." He smirked and closed the door behind him. "Did you go by the Daily Prophet?" I asked picking up my purse and putting it on my shoulder.

"Pansy has been fired and the article will be posted tomorrow. Tomorrow afternoon everyone will know the truth and then we can get on with our lives. Just me and you." He kissed me on the forehead and rubbed his hand down my back. I smiled up at him, I should be happy, right? Then why did I feel so nervous?

"How about you go home and rest up, and then we can go out or something? You know like normal couples." He grinned and grabbed my hand leading me out of my office. I couldn't help, but grin. Draco just called me his girlfriend. We were really a couple. I gave him a quick kiss before walking towards the elevators. I pressed the down arrow and tapped my heel against the marble floor. I felt eyes on me and glanced over my shoulder. There was no one around. I shook my head knowing I was just being paranoid. The elevator finally arrived and I stepped into it. I rejusted my purse and placed my hand in my pocket gripping my hand around my wand.

_Going down._

I rested my back against the wall of the elevator and took a deep breath closing my eyes. I needed to get a grip on myself. Pansy wouldn't come after me. She knew better, but Blaise on the other hand, probably would. The elevator doors slid open and I stepped out. I walked quickly over to the fireplaces and picked up some floo powder. I froze again and looked over my shoulder. No one was really around. It was a couple of men dressed up in suits, but that was about it. I shook my head and stepped into the fireplace.

"Rella Manor." I threw the powder down and stumbled out of my fireplace coughing. I hated floo powder. It always made me look disgusting and made me hack up a lung. I handed my purse off to my house-elf along with my wand. I glanced down at my green dress and groaned when I saw soot all over it. I pulled my boots off and began climbing up the stairs. I placed my wand on my dresser and I tossed my boots into my closet. I went ahead and pulled out two outfits from my closet for our date. I walked into my bathroom and changed in sweats. I had about two hours to kill. I stepped out of my bathroom and froze. There was a cloak figure sitting on my bed. How the hell did he get in? My house-elf would have told me. I glanced over at my window to see it open. I reached into my pocket and groaned when my wand wasn't there. I looked over at my dresser that was across the room. My wand laid there and the man was in my way. He glanced up and my heart stopped.

"Marcus Flint?" Flint was a dangerous man. I knew that and he knew that I knew that. He gave me a crooked smile with those yellow teeth of his. "Hello love."

"What are you doing in my room?" I hissed. I wanted to sound as dangerous as I could. I knew I didn't look like much, but I wanted Flint to doubt himself. "Well you see, you and Draco are personally attacking my friends… You know Blaise doesn't really like seeing his bride to be cry."

"You're here to take me out." Flint stood up and grinned, "I forgot how smart you were."

"I see you also forgot something… I'm quick on my feet." I took off jumping over the bed and grabbing my wand. Flint body slammed me into the wall so hard I felt the wall cave in. I grunted and kicked him in the stomach. He stumbled off of me and I took off out of my room. "She escape!"

"Shit, he has backup!" I dashed down the stairs and ducked just in time as a spell flew towards me. I fired back and ran towards my kitchen. "Miss Rella!" I ducked into my kitchen and looked the door behind me. Daisy was tied up leaning her small body against the wall. I rushed towards her and quickly cut off the ropes with the knife I found nearby.

"How many are there?" I whispered holding a towel up to her bleeding head. "Daisy believes about four. They all wear hoods, Daisy couldn't see their faces." She whispered back. The kitchen shook and I knew they were trying to break the door down. Daisy shook and I grabbed her face making her look at me. "Get to Malfoy Manor. Warn Draco and tell him he needs to warn Theodore Nott. His wife is endangered. Hurry go!" She shakily stood up and she stared at me. "Miss, what are you going to do?"

"I'm going to let them take me. There are too many. They will overpower me. Hurry! I'll be fine Daisy." She nodded and disapparted. I stood up and placed my wand in my pocket. I held the knife behind my back and the door busted open. Flint stormed in with two other large men behind him. I knew one had to be Goyle, the other one I had no idea who it was. Crabbe had died during the war, so I knew that wasn't him.

"Oh dear, you found me." I hissed. I threw the knife behind my back and it hit the man I didn't know in throat. He dropped and Flint's eyes widen. "Two is the perfect number." I pulled out my wand and pointed it at the pair. Daisy said there were four… Where were the others? I got my answer soon enough when something crashed into my head. I dropped to knees and held my bleeding head. My wand rolled out of my hand and Flint picked it up quickly. Everything was starting to go blurry, but I had to stay awake.

"You are an idiot. You know she's too smart with that wand. Brute force is the way to go." I recognized that voice. I glanced up and squeezed my eyes tight so I could get a better look at the man, who hit me. I groaned, it was the one man that probably knew the most about me.

My best friend from Hogwarts, Brighton Williamson. He was a Ravenclaw, he was a pureblood and I knew he worked with Blaise, but I never thought he would personally attack me. I chuckled, "You're a piece of shit." I hissed up at him. He knelt down and looked me over. "This is what you get for getting mixed up with Draco Malfoy." After he said that, he hit me in the face. I dropped to the ground and tried my hardest not to pass out.

"Tie her up and let's go. Her house-elf is missing, she probably send the thing off to warn Malfoy." Goyle rushed to my side and pulled my arms behind me. I closed my eyes, so it looked like I had passed out. I smelt smoke and I knew Brighton had just lit himself a cigarette. He was always getting caught smoking at Hogwarts. He was the typical bad boy. How he landed himself in Ravenclaw, I would never know.

"Zabini said not to scratch her up too bad, Williamson." Flint hissed. "Well, he ought to know how difficult she is. I warned him I should've gone alone. She's not dumb."

"How do you know her so damn well?" Flint snapped. Brighton chuckled, "I have been her friend since her first year at Hogwarts. I'm a people watcher; I know all her little moves. Still as gorgeous as the last time I saw her." I was starting to lose the battle with trying to stay awake. I felt someone pick me up and I smelt liquor. Great, Marcus Flint was carrying me.

000

"_My mates are jealous." Brighton said taking a drag of his cig. "Why?" I said picking up a rock and tossing it into the lake. "Because I'm taking the prettiest girl to the Yule Ball." I smiled and picked up another rock. I was so surprise when Brighton asked me. He was a fifth year, why would he want to take a stupid fourth year? I knew there was a rumor going around that we were dating, but I didn't think he would ask me. Of course, others had asked me, but I said no. _

"_Everyone thinks we are dating." I said picking up another rock. He took another drag and blew the smoke out of his nose. "Well, we are always together. I can see why they think that." I turned around to face him and saw him putting out his cig. He flicked the cig in the lake and leaned up against the tree. He's dark hair blowing lightly in the wind, I felt like his dark green eyes were staring into mine. He was attractive. Very attractive. I bit down on my lip and picked up another rock tossing it into the lake. _

"_Who do you think will win this thing?" _

"_Fleur won't that's for sure. She seems too weak. I still don't know about Potter that was pretty clever him using his broom to get the egg." I heard laughing and turned around to see a mob of girls chasing after Viktor Krum. I had noticed lately that he seemed very interested in Granger. "He's not even attractive." I muttered watching him as all his attention was on Granger, who was sitting next to Potter and Wealsey reading a thick book. "He's famous, girls flock to famous blokes." _

_I shook my head and was about to turn around when I noticed Draco walking out with Blaise next to him. I quickly fixed my hair and turned around. Brighton laughed and waved the pair over. Draco raised an eyebrow because he didn't really know Brighton well, but Blaise just grinned and walked over. _

"_Hey Cora. Williamson." Blaise said nodding over at Brighton, who had just lit another cigarette. "So, Cora the Yule Ball is coming…" Blaise said smirking over at my direction. "She has a date bloke." Blaise looked over at Brighton and raised an eyebrow. I noticed Draco had not taken his eyes off the ground since he walked over to us. He had an odd look on his face, but once Brighton spoke about me already having a date, he's eyes shot up from the ground. "Who?" Blaise snapped. _

"_Me, of course. I couldn't let a little gem like her go. So, Malfoy heard you were going with pug face Parkinson. That's a shame." Draco rolled his eyes. He didn't even try to defend his girlfriend, that was odd or maybe Malfoy was that much of an asshole. "I didn't have a choice, did I?" Draco hissed. Brighton shrugged and tossed his cig into the lake. He walked away and I followed him. He glanced back over his shoulder and smirked. _

"_When are you going to learn that idiot will never like you, Cora?" Brighton said popping in some mints into his mouth. "Probably never. Come on, we're about to be late for dinner." I said tugging on his arm. He chuckled and draped his arm over my shoulders. _

000

I groaned and cracked open my eyes. I was in a dark room. I still had my arms tied up behind me and I was lying in a bed. I sat up and felt a body beside me. I glanced over and saw Theodore Nott tied up lying beside me. I nudged him and he woke up. He blinked a couple of times before he looked up at me.

"They got you too, huh?" I nodded. I glanced around the room and didn't see Draco or Theo's wife. "Let's hope both of them are safe." He grumbled trying to sit up. I nodded and couldn't help, but wonder why they came after me and Theo, but not his wife or Draco. I lay back down and closed my eyes. I really wished I didn't have that dream about Brighton. It reminded me of our falling out in the middle of my fifth year. Was he still mad at me?

000

_**Hey lovely readers! If you have read my other stories, you know I love flashbacks. Brighton Williamson is going to be a big character while Cora is captured, so I wondered if the flashbacks would be a good idea to explain to the story between both of them. **_

_**Let me know in the reviews!**_

_**Thanks for reviewing and reading the story! Have a great day!**_

_**-Tom Felton Lover999**_


	13. Chapter 13

Theo was dragged out of the room about an hour after we woke up. I didn't know what was going on. I was so scared. Theo had a child on the way, he had to say alive. The door opened and Brighton walked in twirling around his index finger a key. He walked over to me and untied me. I rubbed my wrists and rotated my shoulders. I had been tied up for at least twelve hours and I was so sore. I stood up and looked at Brighton. I tried giving him my dirtiest glare, but all he did was smirk and plopped down in a velvet green armchair in the corner of the room. He didn't say a word; he just pulled out a pack of cigarettes and slammed the pack into the palm of his hands. He unwrapped it and pulled out a cigarette placing it in his mouth. "Open that window, will ya." He pulled out a red lighter with his name on it and flicked it open causing a flame to flicker from the top of it.

I just stared at him. He stared right back and I slowly walked over to the window pushing it open. A breeze circled around me and blew the curtains. It was such a beautiful day and here I was… Kidnapped. I glanced down at the ground below me. It didn't look that far down. I could easily jump and dash into the woods. I was only on the second story. "I wouldn't think about it, Cora. Zabini has this placed set up pretty well." Brighton said taking a drag of his cigarette. I turned towards him and took a deep breath to calm myself.

"Why are you doing this?" I whispered. How could he do this to me? He knew! Was he just doing this before of what happened in fifth year? Was he still not over it? "Because" He stood up and placed his cigarette back in his mouth. He walked over to me with a boyish smirk on his face. "I'm getting paid 400 gallons for this. Now how can I give up a chance to make some dough, babe." He said blowing smoke in my face. I coughed and waved my hand in front of my face to get rid of the smoke. He smirked and wrapped his arm around my waist. I froze and glared at him. Brighton always lived off of fear and I knew that. The more you looked afraid, the more he got excited and tested the waters.

"Ah, still the same ole Cora. Does anything scare you? Or are you still fearless?" He whispered, he was a mere inches away from my face. I bit down on the inside of my mouth to keep from smacking him away from me. He pulled me closer to him and I stayed stiff. "Dating Malfoy, huh? About damn time. You have been in love with him since third year and…"

"Not another word, Williamson." I hissed glaring at him. He was about to start pulling up old memories and I didn't feel like strolling down memory lane. He smirked and pulled his cigarette out mouth. He dropped his arm around my waist and stared down at me. "Just stay quiet why you are here, okay? Zabini and Parkinson have completely lost their mind. Take a shower, Cora."

He put his cigarette out and tossed it out the open window. He closed the window and locked. He paused and turned around. He patted me on the cheek and walked swiftly out of the room like nothing had just happened. I let out a shaky breath and ran my hand over my face.

"D-Draco, where are you?" I whispered shakily plopping back down on the bed.

000

"Are you feeling alright?" I asked handing Alexis, a glass of water. She had one hand on her pregnant belly and the other reached out of the glass of water. "I'm fine. Where do… Why did they do this?" She began crying and I patted her awkwardly on the back. I never knew what to do when a girl cried. I have only saw Cora cry two times and I thought my heart was going to explode from my chest. "Because they're crazy." Alexis laughed and wiped her eyes quickly. She ran her hair through her black hair and rubbed her stomach.

"Are they going to come after us?" She whispered. "I'm going to them. I owled Potter and he is on the way to place you in a protection house. My house-elves are at your every call. Potter should be here in about twenty minutes. I'm going to go get them back. Do you have your wand?" She slowly nodded and I patted her on the hand. I stood up and placed my wand in my pocket. I walked to my front door and Alexis' voice stopped me.

"Please. I can't live without Theo and our baby needs a dad." I gave her a tight nod. I didn't really trust my own voice at the moment. I was so scared. I didn't know what I was going to see when I showed up at Zabini Manor. Zabini had owled me saying he was taking Cora. I raced to her house and she was gone. Her place was destroyed and I saw blood in the kitchen. I went back to my Manor and saw Daisy crying while she was holding Alexis' shaking hand. I didn't know what I was going to do. I stopped and closed my eyes.

I thought of Zabini Manor and was gone.

I slowly opened my eyes to see Zabini Manor in the flesh. I walked over to the gate and pushed it opened. In a flash, I felt a wand poking me in the back of the neck. I groaned and pulled my wand out handing it over. Flint walked around me and smirked. He led me into the Manor and shoved me into Zabini's office. He was smoking a cigar with his feet propped up on his desk. Theodore was tied up and gagged in the corner with Brighton Williamson standing next to him. The door slammed shut behind him and he jerked around to see Parkinson leaning against the door with a smile on her face.

"Hello Draco." She pushed me down in a chair and went to sit down next to Theodore. She waved her wand over Theo's mouth and the gagged disappeared. "Alexis?!" Theo yelled.

"She's fine. Don't worry, Theo." I whispered. Blaise stubbed out his cigar and leaned forward. "Why are you here, Draco?" Furry went through my entire body. He knew why I was there and he better start talking. I didn't need my wand to beat the shit out of him. "Where is she?" I hissed.

"In a safe place." Brighton spoke for Blaise. I gritted my teeth together. They were testing my patience. "Don't you dare speak to me, Williamson!" I yelled. I have always hated him. He always had Cora's attention during school and he broke her heart in fifth year. I saw the tears. I saw how he affected her.

"If you want to see her, I suggest you listen and listen closely." Blaise hissed, leaning forward and clenching his fist together. Draco kept his mouth shut and held his fist up to his mouth to keep his mouth shut.


	14. Chapter 14

I placed my ear to the door and tried again to get my bobby pin to work. I had to get out of here. I didn't know what they were going to do to me and I wasn't about to sit back waiting till it happened. I heard a crash and jumped back away from the door. It was loud and I could've sworn I heard someone scream. The doorknob began to turn and I scooted away from the door as quickly as I could. Brighton walked in and looked down at me while I was on the floor. He smirked; he leaned down and picked up the bobby pin from the floor.

"Ah, you were always a master at picking locks with a bobby pin when your wand wouldn't work. But I can also see it didn't work on this door." I jumped up and charged him smacking him with my fist. He grabbed my wrist and slammed up against the wall. I grunted and struggled against him. He slammed his body up against mine. I couldn't move an inch. His hips had my arms locked against the wall. His face was a mere inch or two from mine.

"Does this remind you of anything?" He whispered huskily in my ear. I closed my eyes tight and tried pushing him off of me. "Get off of me!" I growled trying to push him off of me. "Tell me, Cora. Have you slept with Malfoy, huh?" He slammed me again against the wall hard. "That's none of your business." I hissed.

"Oh you haven't? You must really like him. Does he know I took your virginity? Huh?" He hissed rest his hand on my hip. I closed my eyes again to try and control my breathing. "No" I muttered. Brighton smirked ran his hand over my body softly. I bit down on my lip. I was scared, I didn't know what he was going to do to me.

"_Do you think you will snog him?" Daphne Greengrass said as we walked towards the Great Hall. I held up the hem of my dark green dress and jogged down the staircase with Daphne. "How should I know? We are just friends. I doubt he will want to snog me." She rolled her eyes and walked off towards Theodore Nott that was waiting for her. Parkinson slammed her chubby shoulder into mine as she walked past me towards Draco. She tugged on Draco's sleeve, but he didn't move. He was looking at me with his mouth slightly opened. I gave him a nod and a smile. He shook his head and grabbed Parkinson by her hand dragging her into the Great Hall. _

_Where was Brighton? I glanced around and then I felt two strong pair of arms wrap around me. I turned around to see Brighton grinning down at me. "You look gorgeous, Cora. I'm going to have a hard time keeping my hands to myself tonight." He kissed my cheeks and I grinned up at him. _

_I was starting to see that I liked Brighton the flirtier he got. He was handsome and looked even more handsome wearing his dress robes. He held out his arm and I took it. We walked into the Great Hall and I was in shocked. The placed looked like a winter wonderland. We stood to the side as the champions walked in and danced first. Brighton led me on the dance floor and we began to dance. _

_He twirled me around once the song ended he didn't remove his hands from my waist. The whole night was perfect. Brighton never left my side. The ball was over and we walked outside. There were many couples standing around snogging. He walked me back to the Slytherin common room. _

"_I had a lot of fun tonight, Brighton." I said taking his coat off of me and handing it back to him. "Me too." He whispered. We stared at each other for a moment or two, that's when it happened. Brighton pulled my lips to his and kissed me. The kiss was gentle and sweet, but soon it turned out to be a full out snog. He light pressed me up against the stone wall and broke away from my lips to start kissing my jaw line. I closed my eyes and just took in all the little kisses he was leaving across my skin. He found my lips again and began kissing back even harder. He slowly began to pick up my dress and I found myself not wanting him to stop. _

"_Oi!" Brighton jerked away from me and stared at Draco. Brighton rolled his eyes and went back to kissing me. I pushed his head away from me and glanced down at the ground. "Mate, get off of her." I looked at Brighton and saw that his hand was up my dress. I felt his fingers trying to make their way past my underwear. I blushed, I hadn't realized how carried away we had gotten. "I don't believe she's your date, Malfoy." _

"_Given your reputation… I don't think Rella knows what she's getting herself into." His reputation? What was Draco talking about? I stared at Brighton as he sneered at Draco. Draco stormed over to us and yanked Brighton off of me. I pulled my dress down and watched Draco carefully. When did Draco ever stand up for me? "You're drunk. Go back to the Ravenclaw common room." Draco hissed. Brighton sighed and ran his hand over his face. His whole attitude changed, he placed a frown on his face and locked eyes with me. "You're right, Malfoy. I really had fun tonight Cora." He walked away and I stared up at Draco. _

"_What's his reputation?" I whispered as Draco watched Brighton disappeared. "He has a list of girls that he has banged and rates them. He was showing off the book to Crabbe and Nott." Draco light grabbed my elbow and dragged me over to the entrance of the Slytherin common room. "Firewhisky!" Draco called out the password. The door opened and I stepped in. The common room was completely empty and the fire was slowly dying out. _

"_You don't believe me, do you?" Draco snapped as I made my way to the girls' dorm. "I'm going to talk to him tomorrow about it." I began walking up the stairs and stopped. I turned around and Draco was staring into the dying fireplace with his hands deep in his pockets. "Oh Draco?" _

_He looked up, "Yes, Rella?" _

"_Thanks." _

"How could I forget the Yule Ball? Huh? You were about to rip off my dress in the middle of the hallway!" I hissed trying to shove him away from me. "Ah, the Yule Ball… Every male in Hogwarts was jealous of me. You looked hot." He whispered in my ear shoving his body harder against mine. "But I was talking about the beginning of your fifth year… In the Qudditich locker room. Our hot bodies against one another… You were screaming out my name and for me to go harder… You were probably the greatest I have ever had, Cora Rella." I was able to release my left arm and backhanded him on across the face. He growled and threw me on the ground. He kicked me in the stomach and rubbed his cheek.

"Oh, I forgot. You like it rough, eh! I had claw marks up and down my bloody back from your finger nails. And you had bruises all over your back from me slamming you into lockers. From what Blaise told me, you were his best as well. Who else have you fucked?!" He yelled at the top of his lungs. "Shut up!" I screamed kicking him in the groin. He gritted his teeth and pulled out his wand.

"Unforgiveable Curse my arse. CRUICO!" The pain shot through me like a ton of bricks. I couldn't remember the last time I had this curse thrown at me. A Death Eater during sixth year. He attacked me after I had stood up for Draco. I felt the blood dripping down my neck from biting down so hard on my lip. I finally let out a blood curling scream and felt my body go stiff. I heard heavy footsteps and someone slammed into the open door.

"What the hell are you doing?!" Flint yelled pushing Brighton's wand down. "That little brat kicked me in the groin!" Brighton yelled. "Her bloody boyfriend is still downstairs, you git!" Flint yelled glancing down the hallway. My eyes widen, Draco was here. He was trying to save me. Brighton punched Flint square in the face and yanked me up. I groaned and felt my legs give out. He yanked me up again and dragged me down the hallway then down the stairs. He slammed open a door and shoved me in. I fell to the ground and groan.

"What is the meaning of this?!" Blaise yelled standing up. Draco jumped up from his chair and ran over to me. He hugged me close to his body and looked up at Brighton. "What did you do to her?!" Draco yelled. "Remember the cruico curse. Yeah, I know you do. Well that's what she gets for kicking me in the groin. Oh and Malfoy… remember how Cora was walking funny for about three days after practice and she told you that it was from Qudditich practice… Well, after you lot cleared out. I shagged her senseless in the girls' locker room. You should have heard her screaming my name."

Draco's gripped tighten on me and he let out a low growl. "Williamson! Enough!" Brighton stormed out of the study and I wrapped my arms around Draco's body. He didn't tense up like I thought he was going to. He just held me even tighter. "Just tell me what you want, Zabini." Draco snapped.

Blaise just smirked, "Cora Rella." I glanced over at Pansy and saw her face drop a little.


	15. Chapter 15

I pushed myself up from the ground and wiped my blood of the blood. "Pick again." I hissed. Draco slowly stood up from the ground and stood closely next to me. "No." Blaise hissed slamming his hands on his desk. I was sick of this. He had a life already planned out with Parkinson and he was demanding to have me back. I stormed over to his desk and slammed my hands on his desk leaning forward. He backed down a little. I was furious.

"You cheated on me since you asked me out! We were engaged and I wanted to work on our relationship, but you ran off with her! I don't want you! I want to be left alone and for me to see if this bloody relationship with Draco will work out! One of your little guards just pissed me off to the extreme, so I suggest you do not piss me off any further!" I said dangerously. I didn't scream or yell, I remain calm and I think that's what scared Blaise the most. He slowly back down and looked over at Parkinson. She was paper white and was shaking for head to toe. Theo and Draco were smirking; I wasn't someone you could mess with.

Blaise leaned back in his chair and folded his hands under his chin. "Now, how are you going to hurt me without a wand?" I snapped my fingers and a book flew off his shelf slamming into him. He growled and rubbed his head. "Did you forget you that I can do simple spells without a wand?" I hissed

"Pansy, get Flint and have these three escorted to a cell in the basement!" Blaise yelled pushing me back. I stumbled and fell into Draco's lap. He wrapped his arms around my waist and glared at Blaise that was standing up with his wand pointing at me. Flint walked into the room and led us down to the basement.

He shoved me in first and I stumbled falling to the ground. Draco rushed over to me and Theodore was pushed in next. "Have fun." Flint said chuckling slamming the door behind him. It locked into placed and I curled up against Draco.

000

"Potter better hurry up. I have a pregnant wife at home." Theo mumbled picking up a little pebble and tossing it against the wall. It flew off and smacked me in the forehead. I didn't even flinch. It was hard to get mad, we were in the complete darkness, the only light we had was a candle in the middle of the cell that was slowly dying out. "She's in safe hands." Draco said resting his arm on his knee. He leaned his head back and sighed.

There was no telling how long we had been sitting in here. Two hours, two days, maybe even two years. Time just seemed to stop. I had no idea what Blaise was going to do to us. Was he just using us to get popular in the paper? Or had he finally lost his mind? I just couldn't get the look that was on Pansy's face out of my head. She looked crushed or was she just doing that to cause me to snap. I shook my head and placed my forehead on my knees taking deep breaths.

The door of our cell opened and in walked Brighton with three trays of food. He handed one to Theo and walked over to Draco dropping it on the ground. Draco growled and Brighton snickered. He slowly walked over to me and knelt down in front of me. He nudged my shoulder and handed me the tray lightly. He stood up and walked out of the room like nothing had happened.

"_How dare you?!" I screamed slapping Brighton across the face. Brighton rubbed his face and chuckled. "What are you talking about, Cora?" He knew exactly what I was talking. That smirked on his face said it all. "Daphne Greengrass said you were bragging about shagging me! She said I got five stars in that bloody black book of yours. She even saw you showing it to Theodore Nott and Blaise Zabini!" I screamed at the top of my lungs. I didn't care who heard me. I asked him to meet me at the Qudditich pitch anyways, so we wouldn't draw attention. _

"_Oh sweetie, did you really think I actually cared about you?" He touched my shoulder and I growled. I couldn't help it; I flew my fist into his nose. He stumbled backwards and held his bleeding nose with his hands. "Shove that wand up your ass, Williamson." I hissed storming away from him. I walked as quickly as I could to the Slytherin common room. Luckily, I was able to stop the spread of the gossip. I sat down in front of the fireplace and pulled my knees up to my chest. _

_I fell for him. I fell for him hard. And he betrayed me. Draco's words from the Yule Ball kept flowing through my head. I should've listened. For the first time since I found out, I started crying. I felt so betrayed and used. "Rella?" I looked up to see Draco walking into the common room. He looked tired, his shirt was untucked and he had a handful of books in his arms. "Hi" I whispered looking away from him and staring back into the fireplace. _

"_Boyfriend issues?" He asked placing his books on the table and sitting across from me. "Ex-boyfriend issues." I hissed. Brighton and I began dating about a month after the Yule Ball. "What happened?" He asked gently. "He broke my heart." I sighed and stood up. I gave him a smile and patted him on the shoulder. That was my little way of telling him thank you. _

"Cora?" I glanced up and looked at Draco. That night I realized that Draco wasn't who everyone thought he was. That night I fell even harder for Draco. I just didn't let myself feel it. "Are you going to eat?" He asked gently. I shook my head and pushed my tray over to him. Most of his food had spilled out when Brighton threw it at him. He raised an eyebrow and stared at me. "Are you okay?" He asked scooting closer to me.

"Just drop it." I whispered laying my head down in his lap. He tensed up a little and began to eat. Theodore stared up at the ceiling while he slowly munched on a stale piece of bread. Draco ran his fingers through my hair and I slowly fell asleep.


	16. Chapter 16

"_Will you go out with me?" I blinked and stared at Blaise Zabini. Since when has Blaise had a crush on me? I had just broken up with Brighton and here he comes running to my side during breakfast. Daphne and Pansy were sitting across from me grinning from ear to ear. I began babbling like an idiot. I didn't want to go out with Blaise. Draco began walking up to us and Pansy jumped up trotting over to him. She wrapped her arms around his neck and planted a huge kiss on his lips. Draco kissed back and muttered something to her. They sat down and I felt so much rage in me. I didn't know why. I have seen Draco and Pansy kiss many times, but there was just something about it that infuriated me. I turned towards Blaise and placed a giant smirk on my face. _

"_I would love to go out with you, Blaise." His face broke out in a grin and kissed my cheek. I turned back towards my breakfast. Daphne squealed and patted my shoulder. I glanced at Draco out of the corner of my eye to see him glaring at Blaise. Blaise didn't seem to notice though and just kept on talking to Goyle about something. The doors of the Great Hall opened and Brighton strutted in with a blonde headed girl on his arm. _

"_Brandi Arthur. She's in Hufflepuff. Never thought Williamson would go after a Hufflepuff. She's in 7__th__ year too." Daphne muttered not even glancing up at me. I watched as Brandi flipped her hair and giggled at something Brighton had said. I felt my stomach twist into a knot and gripped the table hard. _

"_You know, you do have a boyfriend. Shall I spread that around, Cora?" Daphne said with a smirk on her face. She was the top gossip queen of all time. "Please do." I hissed. She chuckled and stood up walking over to a couple of girls. They giggled and went on to whisper to some others. Soon it spread like wildfire and I sat back watching it hit the Ravenclaw table. _

"_How do you do it, Greengrass?" Blaise asked glancing around him as the male population of Hogwarts came by and clapped him on the back. "Pure talent, I suppose." I watched as Brighton's friend leaned over and whispered in his ear. Blaise seemed to have saw that and wrapped his arm around my waist bring me closer to him. Brighton glanced up and looked over at me. _

_I saw the scowl that appeared on his face. He was livid. _

000

I sat up quickly and felt dripping off my face. I didn't understand why that memory decided to slap me across the face. I had tried to block Brighton out of my mind for years and then he just randomly pops back up. It was like Blaise knew; it would cause me to lose my damn mind. I stood up and stretch my sore muscles out. I walked over to the window and stared out. The moon was high in the sky and I knew it had to be about two in the morning.

I crossed my arms over my chest and glanced over at Draco. He was lying on the ground with an old ripped up blanket around his hips. He was holding one of his arms behind his head and he was smirking in his sleep. I walked over to him and stared at him. I have wanted him for so long and now I had, but why did my thoughts keep flickering back to Brighton?

"Because you still love me." I didn't even flinch at his voice. I knew he was there, I could smell his cigarettes. I stormed over to the door and slammed my fist into the wall. It echoed throughout the room, I was certain that the boys had woken up, but they didn't move an inch. I knew Draco was a very light sleeper, so that worried me he didn't wake up. "I know you well, Cora. I knew you wouldn't eat so I placed a sleeping potion on their food." He stood back and I could see the outline of his face along with his cigarette sticking out of his mouth.

"Why?" I hissed.

"I wanted to talk." I growled but handled my anger better. I didn't want him to see me react so strongly towards him. It would make him cocky. "About?"

He nodded his head over towards Draco, who was still sleeping peacefully. I kept my eyes on him and felt my heart jumped up to my throat. The moon was barely touching his face and the glow was making him even more breathtaking than he already was. I loved him. I always did. "Are you attracted to him because of his dashing good looks or do you actually love him? Because he loves you, Cora. I saw the way he looked at you. He has looked at you like that since third year. I was so jealous of him. He had you attention at a snap of a finger, but I had to fight for it." I glanced back over at Brighton and raised an eyebrow. Brighton was jealous of Draco. How was that possible? Brighton Williamson was never jealous of anyone! He could get any girl he wanted. That's what he and Draco had in common. All the girls wanted to be with them and guys would kill to be them.

"You are so beautiful. Your personality makes you even more breathtaking and the fact that you don't even realize it makes you gorgeous. I have wanted you since the day you stepped through the Great Hall doors on your first year." He reached through the bars of the doors and brushed the back of his hand across my cheek. I jerked my head back and moved out of reach.

He had just attacked me earlier and now he was telling me he was madly in love with me. Something didn't feel right. I knew Brighton and I knew he would die before he ever acted this sweet. While Draco was a fake bad boy, who just did it to hide who he really was… Brighton was the opposite. He was the legit bad boy. He lost his virginity at age twelve and probably has slept with over two hundred girls. He didn't grow attach to girls. He used them for sexual pleasure. That was all.

He was never going to get married. He hated children, so that was out of the picture. He probably had some children somewhere, but he would never have anything to do with them. He had no future and he didn't want one. He wanted to make money, sleep with pretty girls, and die. Draco on the other hand had a future. An incredible one at that.

But did I really fit into his future? I wasn't that special was I?

"You're a liar, Brighton." I whispered staring down at the ground. "What am I lying about, love?" He knew he had me thinking. He had me doubting myself. He had me think, 'was I worth it to anyone?' He knew I was always worried about that. And here he was throwing it in my face with a smirk plastered on his cold hard face. "You are incapable of love. You and I both know that. You have told me plenty times before how you will never settle down. It's not you, is it? So, tell me. How much is Blaise paying you to completely doubt my relationship with Draco?" I hissed slammed my hands on the door, right where he was resting his head. He jerked back and let out a low chuckled.

"You are too smart, Cora."

"You didn't answer my question, Williamson." I growled. Brighton glanced at me and leaned his head back chuckling loudly.

"Not enough love. Not enough." With that said, Brighton walked off tossing his cigarette to the ground.


	17. Chapter 17

I was able to go back to sleep about an hour or two later after my talk with Brighton. Draco was now pacing around the room deep in thought. "How is Potter not even here yet?" He hissed. Theo chuckled and flicked a pebble against the wall. "Probably doesn't believe it. I wouldn't have believed it. Why Zabini would lose his mind and kidnapped his ex? That's probably what was going through his head." Theo picked up another pebble and flicked it at the wall. This time it bounced off the wall and went flying right into Draco's head. He growled and rubbed his head lightly where the pebble had struck. Theo snorted and picked up another one. I started laughing, but turned it into a cough when Draco shot me a look.

"He owes me. He better come." Draco hissed kicking the side of the wall. I rolled my eyes, there Draco was being a complete drama queen. "What does he owe you for?" Theo asked the question that was lingering in the air. "During the war, snitchers brought him and his friends to Malfoy Manor. Granger hit him with a stinging jinx, so they couldn't tell it was him." He sighed and plopped down beside me. He rested his arm on his knees and took a deep breath. "Aunt Bella needed for me to be sure that it was Potter, so they could call Voldemort. I could clearly see it was him, but couldn't bring myself to tell her."

I remembered that day like it was yesterday. My mother was visiting Narcissa and had brought me along with her. She was afraid to leave me alone. She didn't want me running away like I had threatened to do, oh so many times. Draco had been pulled out of Hogwarts and mum thought it was fit to do the same with me. I was about to go crazy sitting at home by myself.

"_How do you handle this?" I muttered pacing around Draco's room. He had his suit jacket off and his shirt sleeves rolled up. He was tracing his dark mark tattoo with his index finger. "What do you mean?" I picked up a picture frame of him and his mother staring at it. "Being cooped up all day." I stared as a five year old Draco hugged his mother around her waist. He looked so happy, and she did too. What had happened to their family? "I wouldn't want to go back to Hogwarts. Everyone knows I tried to kill Dumbledore. You were there for five months at least." Draco said walking over to me and snatching the frame from my hands. _

"_I hope you don't take this to heart, Malfoy, but everyone was more concerned about the fact that the Carrows had taken over Hogwarts. They were even torturing Slytherins. That's why mum pulled me out." I picked up another picture frame of Draco standing in front of the Malfoy Manor with Narcissa and Lucius standing behind him. He looked like he was around twelve. All of them looked miserable. He snatched that one out of my hands as well and placed it calmly back on his dresser. There was a knock at his door and his mother stepped it. "You two follow me." Draco grabbed his jacket and placed it back on. I smoothed out my green skirt and fixed my hair. I walked quickly with them downstairs and almost passed out. _

_There they were. The Golden Trio. Draco looked down at me and I felt Bellatrix grip my shoulder. "We need you two to see if this is Harry Potter." She led Draco and I over to Potter, who had a swollen face. Draco knelt down and stared at Potter for the longest time. "Now Draco we have to be sure. If we call him and it isn't him… He'll kill us all." _

"_I can't be sure." Draco muttered. I stared at him, how could he not tell it was Harry Potter. Bellatrix shoved me to the ground and I stared at Potter. I glanced up at Draco and he stiffly shook his head. He didn't want me telling Bellatrix it really was him. I looked back at Potter and his eyes were pleading with me to lie, so that's what I did. "I don't think it's him." Bellatrix yanked me up and shoved me into Draco's arms. _

_She began yelling at the Snitchers and soon she began to attack them. One fell and Draco yanked me out of the way. I gripped onto Draco's arm completely terrified. Bellatrix always scared me shitless. Narcissa yanked up Weasley and I yanked up Potter handing them off to place them downstairs. I stayed close to Draco as Bellatrix tortured Hermione. I would never forget that day as long as I live. _

_And when Ron disarmed me, I didn't even put up a fight. I wanted them to get away. _

I shook the memory out of my head and stared at Draco. I could see the memories flicking through his eyes. He glanced over at me and squeezed my knee. The war was a time in my life that I wasn't proud of. I had done things that I wasn't happy and I watched way too many fellows student die in vain. I was a known Death Eater's daughter. I wasn't treated nicely when I went back for my seventh year. I was happy Draco didn't go back. It was torture. I still had nightmares from it all. Really, I had begged my mom to pull me out. I had made up complete lies, so she would take me out. I couldn't stare all the whispers and all the little jabs from everyone. I wasn't strong enough and when Blaise got pulled out… I was all alone. I was so furious at him.

He and Pansy just left leaving me alone with Crabbe and Goyle. Finally those two left as well for holidays and didn't return afterwards. What I had found out later that they all came back after the Christmas holidays. My father forced me to go back once he had heard that and it was even worse than it was before.

Theo shot up from his spot and rushed over to the door. I watched him and slowly stood up with Draco. "What do you hear?" Draco whispered grabbing my hand. "Fighting. Potter has come to save us." Theo turned around with a smile plastered on his face. Theo backed away from the door and it busted open. Ron stumbled through the rubble and coughed. "You lot alright?"

"Just barely. Took you long enough." Draco snapped. I nudged him in the side hard and walked over to Ron. I threw my arms around his neck, "Thanks Ron." Ron chuckled and patted me awkwardly on the shoulder.


	18. Chapter 18

Potter wrapped a blanket around my shoulders and sat down in front of me. Draco held his coffee mug to his face and took a deep breath in. Theo was gushing over his wife that has gotten even bigger. Potter sat down across from me and sighed, "We lost them."

Draco's head snapped up and he leaned forward. "What do you mean?" My heart froze and I leaned back letting Draco handle this. I didn't and couldn't bring myself to panic. I was just so tired. "Zabini fled with Parkinson and Williamson. We caught the others through." Draco rubbed his head over his face and sighed. "Those three are the ones I'm worried about. Especially Williamson." Potter drummed his fingers across the table. He looked deep in thought. I thought back to Pansy's face. She really did love Blaise, I knew Blaise was going to run off and get married to her. That would make her happy and maybe just maybe Blaise would forget about me after a while.

"Leave Blaise and Pansy alone." I spoke up. Potter's eyes widen and he glanced over at Draco, who was staring at me like I had grown four heads. I knew what I was doing. Pansy and Blaise weren't going to be a problem anymore. "Look, they are going to run off, get married, they will forget about me soon. Williamson, will leave me alone unless he wants something. He'll show up in a year or two. None of them are worth the time and money. They got their craziness out of their systems." Potter smiled and looked over at Draco, who still seemed worried. I placed my hand on his knee and he relaxed a little.

"Yeah, she's right. Can we go?" Potter nodded and stood up shaking hands with Draco. I stood up and wrapped the blanket around my shoulders. I took a deep breath and left the Ministry with Draco. We floo to my Manor and my house-elf greeted me with a Firewhisky. I smiled and took a large gulp of it.

"I needed that." I whispered handing her back the glass. I headed up towards the stairs with Draco following behind me. I didn't question why he was following me, I just let him. I loved him and I wanted to make the next step with him. But I was worried, now that all of this was over. Was he going to go back to his old ways? I stepped into my room and kicked off my shoes.

"I love you." I turned around to see Draco with his hands deep in his pockets and a sad look on his face. "I don't want this relationship to end, Cora." He said taking a step towards me. I smiled, he was thinking just like I was. I rushed towards him and grabbed him shoving him up against the wall. He chuckled and I crushed my lips into his.

I have never slept with Draco. I had only had two past lovers. One being Brighton and the other being Blaise. I knew Draco had a ton of one night's stands and that made me nervous. The kiss got out of hand fast. I ripped off his shirt and was working on getting his pants off when he finally stopped me. He grabbed my hands and sat up. "We don't have to do this."

"Do you not want to?" I whispered backing away from him. I was only in my purple bra and jeans. "Oh believe me, I do, but I don't want you to think that's all I want." I gave him my answered by kissing his neck. He groaned and pushed me down yanking off his pants. I giggled and he started kissing along my collarbone.

000

"Miss!" I cracked open an eye and saw my house-elf in my face. I rubbed my eyes and sat up pulling my bed sheet around me. I glanced over to my right and saw that Draco was still sleeping peacefully. "Yes?" I asked rubbing my eyes, I glanced over at the clock and saw it was four in the morning. Why would she be waking me up so early? I had set my clock to get me up at 6:30 because I had work at eight.

"A man is here." Now I was fully awake. "A man? Did he say who he was?" I got up and tugged Draco's boxers on. I picked up a baggy shirt and threw it on. My stomach sunk, I was really hoping Blaise wasn't downstairs, but I knew she wouldn't allow Blaise into my Manor. She knew better. "He said he knew you at Hogwarts." I snatched up my wand and headed towards the door. "I do believe he was the one that hit you over the head." I froze and whipped around glaring at her. Why would she let him in?

"Miss Rella, he forced himself in!" I nodded and gestured for her to follow me. I gripped my wand tight in my hand and shook Draco's shoulder. He muttered in his sleep and turned over falling back to sleep. I sighed, "Stay here with him." She weakly nodded and sat down in a chair.

I walked quickly downstairs and didn't see him at all. "Lumos." I whispered. My wand lit up my entire sitting room and I saw him drinking my Firewhisky out of the bottle. He had his feet on my leather couch with his arm resting on the back of it. "I'm glad you made yourself comfortable."

I walked over to the fire and lit it. I snatched the Firewhisky bottle from his hands and sat down across from him. "That's some good Firewhisky." He hiccupped.

"That's because that bottle is a 100 Gallons and you drank half of it." He rolled his eyes and leaned back letting out a loud burp. "Zabini and Parkinson are now married." He snorted "I was the best man."

"Explain to me why you broke into my Manor." I hissed pouring myself some Firewhisky. He sighed and leaned forward resting his elbows on his legs. "Seeing you again brought back some memories." I took a gulp of the Firewhisky and ready myself for the lies that were about to spew from his mouth. I should've just kicked him out and owl Potter, but I wanted to hear him out. Maybe after he talked, he would finally leave me alone forever.

I stayed quiet and waited for him to continue. He took a deep breath and snatched back the bottle of Firewhisky. "I'll get you another one." He hissed pouring some down his throat. I rolled my eyes knowing fully well I would never see it. That was another thing Brighton did. He always promised things and never came through.

"I really did care about you, Cora. You weren't just another notch in my belt. Don't get me wrong, the sex was great. Best I have ever had. I mean we did it everywhere! The broom closet, the potion classroom, the…"

"I get it!" I snapped. He chuckled and cleared his throat. "I haven't exactly figured out if I just fell for you because of the great shag or was it something more? My heart was ripped to pieces when I found out you were with Blaise Zabini. I knew about him shagging Parkinson. I even hinted it at Draco at one point." I crossed my legs and listened. Was he the one that got Draco thinking what was going on? Did Brighton really bring Draco and I together? "So, what makes you think I will believe you? All you do is lie, Brighton."

"I completely get that. I do not want you to believe me. I'm trying to figure things out that are bouncing in my head. And that's you. Do I really love you or do I just want to shag you again?" He took a deep breath and walked over to me. I leaned back in my chair and he rested his head on either side of my head. He leaned close to my face and I had nowhere to go.

"I'm with Draco." I hissed. I could've easily pushed him off of me, but I was frozen into place. I didn't trust my own body right now and that was scaring me. "I'm aware of that, but answer this. If I happened to come to you and confessed my love would you leave Draco for me?" I stared up at him, not knowing if I would or not. Draco was my first love, but Brighton was my first heartbreak. I know it sounds crazy, but I still cared about Brighton.

"You don't know, do you?" He whispered. He smirked and grabbed my chin lightly in his hands. "Give me a week." He kissed my cheek and left. I couldn't tell you how long I sat there, but it felt like it lasted forever.

"Cora?" I looked up to see a sleepy Draco at the staircase. He was wearing nothing, but his jeans. "Are you alright? You look like you just saw a ghost?" I stood up and walked over to him. I lied, "I'm fine, let's go back to sleep."

He nodded and wrapped his arm around my waist walking with me upstairs.


	19. Chapter 19

"Miss Rella?" I looked up from the document that was lying out in front of me. "Yeah?"

"A man is here to see you. Shall I let him in?" I nodded and he stepped aside and in strolled Brighton Williamson with a smug look on his face. "Where is Draco?" I asked trying to keep my voice as calm as possible. "He just went to lunch, ma'am. I believe he went with Theodore Nott." I nodded and he closed the door as he walked out just leaving me and Brighton together. He plopped down in a chair and propped his feet up on my desk.

"You have a lot of ball." I hissed slowly reaching into my purse for my wand. "That's what I have been told." He chuckled and rested his arms behind his head leaning backwards. "You are a wanted man." I glared at his dirty boots that were on my desk and pushed them off. His feet landed on the ground and he sat forward glaring at me. "I'm not afraid of Potter and his muskrats." He spat out.

"What do you want? Draco will kill you if he catches you." I snapped going back to my work. I needed to keep my attention on something else beside the man that was sitting in front of me. "I'll take my chances. Have you thought about us?" He stood up and walked towards my desk. I looked up and scooted my hand over to my wand. I didn't trust Brighton and I knew for a fact that we could never have a relationship. Even thinking about leaving Draco made me want to curl up in a ball and die. I couldn't leave Draco. Ever. He would have to leave me first.

"You need to leave. Get out of town. We could never have a relationship." I muttered not even bothering to look up. He sighed, "Give this some time, Co" I winced at my old nickname he had given me in my second year. I heard him make movement towards the door and that's when I finally looked up from my desk. He gave me a wink and left without another word. I stared at the open door and Draco rushed in slamming the door behind him.

"Are you alright?" I snapped out of my daze and looked up at Draco. His face was a mixture between anger and worry. "I'm fine."

"I thought you said he would leave you alone unless he wanted something." He hissed pointing his hand at the closed door. I rested my hands under my chin and smiled up at him. "He wants something." Draco growled and saw down. He ran a hand through his hair messing up his already messy hair.

"What is that?"

"A relationship. With me." Draco's head shot up and his eyes widen. He chuckled and rolled his eyes, "Aren't I lucky to have the most attractive witch in all of England?" I looked over his face, I couldn't tell if he was being a smart ass or if he was being serious. He stood up and leaned across my desk giving me a kiss. I smiled into the kiss and wrapped my arms around his neck pulling him closer to me. He pulled back with a smile on his face.

"I know I have nothing about worry about and do you want to know how I know that?" I slowly nodded and smiled. He grinned, "You know a girl loves you when she smiles into the kiss." He gave me another quick kiss and stood up.

"I'm going to get back to work. Warn him. I'll kill him next time, Cora. I swear it." And I knew he was being serious. I nodded and smiled. I loved him and Brighton could never change that.

000

"I want you to move in with me." I glanced up from my glass of wine and stared at Draco like he had grown forty heads. We were at the Greek restaurant that we went to for our first date, I should've know that he was going to ask me something important. "I'm sorry, what?" I shook my head and placed my fork down. He chuckled nervously and took a deep breath.

"I want you to move in with me." He said slowly this time. Before I could stop myself, I blurted out, "Why?" His face turned seriously and he reached across the table grabbing my hands. "I'm tired of having many girlfriends. I want a serious one and I think that's girl is you." I smiled and he squeezed my hands tightly. He took another deep breath and kept on explaining.

"Your manor is falling apart and you spend so much time at my manor anyways. I just thought it would be easier. Your house-elf can move in too. We'll see how that goes and then if it goes really well… We could get engaged. I love you, Cora and I want to make you happy." I smiled at him and couldn't help the blush that creped across my face.

"You really mean about getting engaged?" I never thought Draco would ever want to marry. He just didn't seem like the type of guy that wanted to be held down by a woman. "Well yes! Of course, if us living together works out wonderful then yes." I grinned and got up. I walked over to him and plopped down on his lap. He smiled and I leaned down to kiss him.

Our waitress walked up and blushed, "Terribly sorry!"

"Not a problem. What do you have for dessert?" I glanced down at him and he wiggled his eyebrows. I chuckled and grabbed my glass of wine. Draco ended up ordering the double chocolate cake and I walked back over to my seat. He poured himself another glass of wine and leaned forward.

"Have I told you how stunning you look in that dress?" He winked and leaned back with a smirk on his face. I was wearing a blood red strapless dress with huge heels. My hair was up in a curly ponytail and I was wearing red lipstick, which I never did. I got all dressed up, so I was happy that he thought I looked good. "You failed to mention that." I winked back. Our waitress brought over our cake with two forks.

He dug in and smirked, "I might have to rip that off of you later."

I licked off the chocolate off my fork and smirked, "Your place or mine?"

"Yours?" He grinned and took another bite out of the cake. I smirked, I was about to make him lose his mind. "My bedroom?" I ran my foot over his leg and he glanced down grinning. "That can be one of the places." He smirked. I slowly ran my foot closer to his man business and his face broke out into the biggest grin. "Where else?" I rested my chin on the palm of my hand and slowly licked off the chocolate off my fork. He watched my every moment and I was enjoying watching him stutter over his words when normally he was such a smooth talker.

"Everywhere." He reached into his pocket and slammed a handful of money on the table. He jumped up quickly and grabbed my hand. He dragged me out of the restaurant with me laughing my head off.


	20. Chapter 20

"Hey! If you break that, I'll curse you from here to Africa!" I snatched the vase out of Draco's hands and cradled it in my arms. Daisy dragged in two more boxes and I handed her the vase. "What's so important about that thing?" I gaped at him, "You don't know what this is?!"

"Babe, it's a vase!" He yelled throwing his arms dramatically in the air. He walked over to my giant bookcase and pulled out his wand. He waved it over the bookcase. The books on the top shelve began to slowly float down to my desk. "My grandmother is in that vase." He rolled his eyes and looked at me. "You are such a bad liar."

I growled, he was right. "Okay, you got me! It was a hand-crafted vase my parents got from Greece after I was born." He picked up a box and began to load some of my books in there. "You were born in Greece."

"Yes, I was born in Athens. We lived there for two years before we moved to Scotland." He paused in packing the books and stared at me. He grinned, "Can you speak Greek?"

"A little." He grinned and placed another two books in the box. I heard the front door bell and knew Daisy was packing up the kitchen. I jumped down from the chair I was standing on and wiped my hands on my jean shorts. "I'll get it Daisy!" I jogged over to the door and opened it. I slammed the door and locked it after I saw who was at the door. It was Brighton. He began banging on the door screaming for me to open it. Draco jogged out of my office, "Alright, the office is done… Who's at the door?"

"No one!" I said in a rush standing in front of the door. I really didn't want a dead man on my front lawn. He raised an eyebrow and walked over to me. He stood on his tippy toes and looked out the peep hole. He back away and looked at the door. If looks could set something on fire, my front door would have been on fire. "Move." He hissed pulling out his wand from his back packet.

"I don't want a dead body on my…" He picked me up and moved me out of his way. He yanked open the door and leaned against the door frame. He shut the door a little so Brighton couldn't see me. "What do you want?"

"Her" Brighton's voice was thick and it sounded like he was drunk. I glanced over at the grandfather clock and saw it was two in the afternoon. This wasn't going to end well; Brighton was always an extremely mean drunk. "Pick again. She's moving in with me, so that's not going to happen. I think you should leave actually. She doesn't want you. After all you have done to her, are you at all surprise?" Draco crossed his arms and I just stood there stun. First Blaise and now Brighton. I was not that special! I was pretty. I'll give them that, but all of Rella's females were gorgeous. I was actually considered the ugly duckling. All I wanted was Draco and I wasn't about to ruin that. Not now not ever. I have wanted him since I was thirteen.

"Let me talk to her. I know she's here. She slammed the door in my face." Brighton yelled. Draco chuckled, "Shouldn't that give you your answer?" I heard Brighton let out a frustrating scream and he kicked open the door. Draco jumped to life and pointed his wand at him. He back up and block his path to me. Daisy ran into the room and let out a loud gasp.

"Miss Rella?" I stared at her and then at Draco. I wasn't really sure what to do. I was glue to the spot with me gripping the back of Draco's black t-shirt. "Contact Potter, Daisy." Draco hissed as Brighton pulled out his wand. Daisy disappeared and I glanced at the coffee table to see my wand laying there. I slowly let go of Draco's shirt and he reached out for my hand, but I took off to the coffee table.

"No!" I picked it up when I turned around I was hit in the chest with a spell. I flew backward slamming into a bookcase. I grunted and hit the ground in a heap. My wand rolled out of my hand and all I heard was ringing. I tried lifting my head, but couldn't. I glanced over at the bookcase and suddenly remembered that my father had built a safe hatch when Voldemort reappeared for me and my mother. I dragged my body to the left and reached up pulled out a black leather bound book. The bookcase broke apart and it was the beginning of a hallway. Draco looked back towards me and took off running towards me. He scooted me up in his arms and ran into the safe hatch. I told him how to close it and it closed right as Brighton reached it. Draco took a deep breath and rested his back against the wall.

"He called for backup." He breathed out rejusting me in his arms. "What do you mean?"

"I found out, that he's been in contact with Blaise and Pansy. Now they just want revenge. He had this weird ring on his finger. He started speaking German to it and it began to light up. We need to stay here till Potter gets here." He took a deep breath and kissed the top of my head. I was in pain from my head down to my toes. I was trying to stay awake, but I just didn't know how much longer I could do that.

"Does it lead back any further?" Draco asked. I just nodded and placed my hand on the wall. The wall opened up to another hallway. "Just walk." I whispered resting my head against his shoulder. He nodded and walked back the hallway as quickly as he could. The hallway opened up to a bedroom, with two beds, there was doors that lead to a bathroom and then there was a closet. "My father built this back during fourth year when Voldemort returned." He walked over to the closest bed and gently placed me down.

"Tell me what hurts?" He asked gently. "Everything." I muttered not being able to move.

"I need you to stay awake. Your head is bleeding." He tore off a piece of his shirt and began wrapping it around my head. He stood up and walked over to a cabinet. He began to tear through it and found nothing. He tore apart the whole room including and found nothing still. Well my father built it, didn't mean he was actually going to supple it.

"I hate your father. Always have." Draco mumbled picking up a chair that he knocked over in his state of panic. "You're not the only one." I whispered staring up at the concert ceiling.

"He treated you like shit. I can never get it that scene out of my head during the battle; he just left after you refused to go with him to France. You wanted to stay and fight." I closed my eyes tight to block out the tears that were collecting under my eyelids.

"He never wanted a girl and he got two of them." I had an older sister. She was six years older than me and her name was Helena. Helena Alder. Now she was known as Helena Kelly. She married a half-blood at the age of seventeen. She dropped out of Hogwarts and ran away with him. She was a Ravenclaw and my father hated her for that same reason. Two years later, she owled me telling me she had a son. I met him and I was shocked to see that she was living in a mansion. Her husband was one of the top healers in America. Her son looked just like her, but had blonde hair like her husband instead of her brown hair. My father heard about me visiting her and banned me from ever seeing her again.

"She has a son. Well that's the last I have heard from her."

"She understands, Cora." Draco whispered picking up the room that he just destroyed. I nodded and opened my eyes.

"_Cora, come quickly!" My mother reached out her hand and I stared at it. Draco was standing next to his mother. Every eye was on me. I didn't want to join Voldemort. I knew the only reason Draco went over there was because his mother told him to come. She didn't even have to open her mouth, she just nodded and he ran over. He wasn't going to at first, but that little nod made him change his mind. I looked over at Draco and he wouldn't meet my eyes. He looked ashamed of himself. _

"_We must leave now! Cora! Listen to your mother." My father hissed. I took a step back and looked at Draco again. He finally looked up and locked eyes with me. I didn't know why I was waiting for him to tell me what to do. I should be looking at Blaise, but Blaise had disappeared the second he saw Voldemort. Lucius was staring at Draco and I with a grin on his face. _

_I shook my head and looked back at my father. "I can't. I want to stay and help Harry. You should want to do that same." I whispered, I looked back at Draco and he smirked. He mouthed, 'I'm proud of you.' _

"_Do not become your sister! Look at your last name. You are a Rella!" He shouted. _

"_Helena left because of you and I tend to visit her after this is done. She's my sister! I don't want to be a Rella if I have to fight for something I don't believe in. I refuse father." I hissed. He stepped forward and backhanded me across the face. _

_My mother gasped and took a step forward. "You are not my daughter anymore. Let's go! She could die for all I care." He grabbed my mum roughly by the upper arm and stormed away. I looked down at the ground and looked back up to see the retreating backs of the Malfoy's. I didn't think twice, I ran towards the commotion and fought alongside Harry Potter. _

"The bleeding has stopped." Draco whispered looking over my head. I nodded and opened my eyes. I cleared my voice, so he didn't hear the heartache. "Thanks. Get some rest."


	21. Chapter 21

"I swear if she's attacked again by these idiots because you cannot capture them, I will personally rip your throat out of your neck, Potter." Draco hissed as a healer looked over my head. Hermione was sitting next to me holding my hand; I haven't really hung out with her since I started dating Draco for two reasons. One being that she is pregnant and two being she didn't really like seeing me with Draco.

"I'm sorry, I really am! I have the best Aurors on the case looking for Brighton, but you do remember that Cora was the one that told us not to worry about them. And since you two are moving into together hopefully it will get better." Potter patted him on the shoulder and Draco followed him out of the room still complaining. Hermione looked at me and raised an eyebrow.

"I'm assuming that you two aren't faking the relationship anymore?" I shook my head and bit down on my lip. I felt my head after the healer left and we sat in silence. I glanced at Hermione that was starting to get a little pregnant belly, she looked adorable. I placed my hand on her stomach and she relaxed a little. She looked up at me and smiled, "Do you love him?"

I nodded and just kept my attention on her stomach. "It's weird." I whispered feeling the baby kick. "I have had the biggest crush on him since I could remember, but he never showed me any attention so I moved on… But in fact he has had a crush on me just as long. Is it bad that I feel like I doubt that? Why didn't he step forward? Why was he a complete ass to me all those years when all I did was be loyal to him? I'm scared, Hermione." I pulled my hand away and looked up at her. She smiled sadly and stood up wrapping her arms around me. I returned the hug and buried my face in her shoulder. I have been thinking that for a long time, but it felt really good to finally speak it out loud.

"He had a bad rep during school. You and I both know that. He probably didn't know how to show his feelings. He thought he was engaged to Parkinson so he just went with that because it felt safe. And from what I remember about you during school was you weren't the easiest person to talk to. Whether you believe it or not, Cora, you are a very intimating woman. You attracted the wrong sorts of guys. They were cocky because they knew they could talk to you… Honesty, you should have never dated Williamson or Zabini. I hate to say this, but Malfoy is the best for you." She brushed a piece of my hair behind my ear and smiled down at me.

I stood up and hugged her again. She was completely right. Well, when was Hermione ever wrong? She patted me awkwardly on the back before she left me alone to change back into my clothes. I pulled off the hospital grown off and was just standing there in my bra along with my underwear. I picked up my jean shorts and saw that they were ripped a little. I grumped under my breath and pulled them on. I didn't have time to repair them now.

"I can't believe you are mine." I jumped and spun around. Draco was leaning against the closed door and smiled. A smile that I barely saw him give, I loved seeing it. It was truly beautiful. "How long have you been standing there?" I asked chuckling pulling on my t-shirt.

"Let's just say, I love the see through underwear." He winked and I plopped back down on the bed laughing. Draco could be such a horn dog. He walked over to me and sat down holding my hand. "I asked Daisy to move the rest of the stuff into my manor while we were gone, so everything should be there. We can put your manor on the market in a couple of days, if you would like?" I smiled up at him, I knew if I went ahead and sold my place I knew there would be no way I can just leave one day. That was the thing about me, when things got rough, I tend to run and hide. If I sold my place, I would have to work through everything with Draco. "I would like that. Can we go home now?" He nodded and helped me up. He wrapped his arm around my waist and kissed the top of my head.

000

I yawned and stretched. I pulled back the curtains of our bedroom and stared out into Draco's own personal Qudditich Pitch. It was about eight a.m. and he was flying around trying to capture the golden snitch. Since I moved in, I realized every Saturday morning he was going to be out there flying around. He was always so much more peaceful when he came back inside. I got dressed and headed downstairs. It has been a wonderful experience moving in with him. It has been about a month and everything was going perfectly.

Ron and Hermione brought my Manor, and Harry was able to capture Brighton three days ago. There was an upcoming trial and Draco was refusing to let me go. He said it was going to bring up negative thoughts and he didn't want me getting upset. But, I just had to go. I needed to see him put away for sure. Brighton has always been able to talk his way out of everything and I just wanted to make sure he couldn't this time.

Work had been amazing. We have gotten two clients from Ireland. Both of these men would be able to allow us to spread the word of a more peaceful wizarding world. They were both wealthy. One had five children and two of them were in Hogwarts. One was a Ravenclaw while the other was a Slytherin. I knew these men were our best bet.

I jogged down the stairs and poured myself a cup of tea. I grabbed the Daily Prophet and sat down at the large dining room table. I heard the back door open and the supple door kicked closed. Daisy walked in with my tea, "Make sure you have Draco's coffee." I whispered picking up my tea cup. She smiled and walked out. Draco walked in and pulled off his leather fingerless gloves tossing them on the table.

"Have a good workout?" I asked as he leaned over kissing me. "Perfect. Oh Daisy, perfect timing!" He took his coffee cup from her and sat down across from me. "Ms. Rella, what would you like for breakfast?"

"A bagel will be fine." She turned towards Draco and he said the same. I opened the Daily Prophet while Draco went through the rest of the mail that was sitting in front of him. I flipped past the first page and froze at the image I saw. "Uh, Draco?"

He muttered and kept looking through an invitation. "Is Blaise still on Harry's most wanted list?"

"I don't think so. I think they realized he and Pansy isn't a threat. Why?" He looked up and took a drink from his coffee cup. "Because Pansy is back on the Daily Prophet and apparently she is two months pregnant." He sat up from his chair and ran over to my side. He snatched the paper out of my hands and read over the article. I picked up the invitation that Draco had tossed to the see and saw it was Theo's wife's baby shower. I smiled and went ahead circling yes on the invite.

"Well, you're right. We'll just have to keep an eye on them. Zabini always wanted a kid so he shouldn't mess with us." He handed me back the paper and kissed me on top of the head. He sat back down and Daisy brought in our food. She refilled my cup and I flipped the page of paper. I chuckled and slowly slid the paper over to Draco.

"Apparently we're engaged now." He laughed and looked at the fake picture of a huge diamond on my hand. But the ring was on my right and it used to be one of my mother's rings. I was always wearing it, but they just had to make it into something.

"That's your mother's ring. Your engagement ring will be a lot larger than that. They should know that." He muttered handing me back the paper. I laughed, he was right. Draco was one of those type of people that if he was going to propose, he was going to make it a big deal.

"I'm going to take a shower. Care to join?" He pulled off his hoodie and I smirked when I saw his bare chest. How was I going to say no to that body? I grabbed his hand and followed him up the stairs.


	22. Chapter 22

"Are you sure I look okay?" I asked as I ran my fingers through my curls. "It's a bloody baby shower. Don't you think you are a little too dressed up?" Draco asked smoothing out his jeans as he pushed opened the gate to Nott Manor. I looked down at my black skinny jeans and green sweater. I was wearing heels and I had my hair in messy curls. "How is this dressy?"

"You're wearing pearls." Draco muttered. I stared down at the pearl bracelet and shook my head. He was just in a pissy mood because I didn't wear what he had picked out. He had picked out a black dress that was completely backless. How was that appropriate to wear to a baby shower? I pulled back the knocker and slammed it into the door four times. A house-elf appeared seconds later and took the gift from my hands.

The house-elf leads us to the large ballroom that was all decorated in pinks and purples. I smirked and looked around at all the people they had invited. Ron and Hermione were talking to Theo. Ron had one hand on Hermione's stomach with a giant smirk on his face the whole time. "Cora?" I looked back at Draco, who was also staring around the room.

"Is it just me or is everyone married with a kid with them or pregnant?" I gulped and saw that he was right. We were probably the only one that weren't married. "I hope this isn't an intervention." I muttered picking up a butterbeer.

"What do you mean?" Draco asked picking up a butterbeer also. "Do you think they are trying to show us that it's time to get married?" I hissed as we walked towards Theo. "We haven't been dating that long and we just moved in together. Aren't we going fast enough?!" Draco hissed.

"Well yes! Hi Theo!" He kissed me on both cheeks and hugged Draco tightly. "How is everything going?" I asked nodding my head over to his very pregnant wife. "She's miserable. Getting rather large and can barely move around. The baby should be here within a week or two. So, when are you two getting married?" Draco spat out his butterbeer. I coughed and patted Draco hard on the back. Theo chuckled and waved over his very pregnant wife, Alexis.

"So, glad you have made it. Draco, are you alright? You look as if you have seen a ghost", she chuckled and I handed her our gift. "He's fine. He's just scared that I called him out on marriage." Theo said wrapping his arm around his wife, who smiled big up at her husband.

"Excuse him. He proposed to me after three months. He believes if you know you love someone, you might as well snatch them up. Oh look Daphne and her husband. Excuse me." She smiled and waddled over to Daphne hugging her tightly. Theo excused himself and greeted Daphne's husband. Draco chugged the rest of his butterbeer and wrapped his arm around my waist.

"Done being a spaz?" I asked resting my head on his shoulder. "Malfoy's aren't spazzes. Just wasn't ready for that one." Draco picked up something stronger than butterbeer and began chugging it. I snatched the glass from him and glared at him. I wasn't about to carry his drunken ass home. He shook his head and Ron walked over slapping him on the back. Draco winced and chuckled. Ron and Draco were on good terms mostly because of Hermione. It was hard to believe that they used to hate each other back during Hogwarts.

000

"I assure you, you will be given the nicest hotel and we will pay for everything. Just call it our gift for joining the cause." Draco said grinning up at our two clients. "What are you exactly paying for?" Mr. O'Connor said tapping his quill on the oak table. He was the most difficult one. I guess when you're an ex- Slytherin you don't really lose your ways. I scooted the paper from the Ministry saying what they would pay for.

"Your hotel room and for two dinners. And I will send your daughter and wife to a day spa. How is that?" He tapped his quill on the table even harder and glanced over at his lawyer. His lawyer gave a tight nod and Mr. O'Connor stood up holding out his hand. "You have yourself a deal!" Draco stood up and tightly stood the man's hand. I stood up and smoothed out my dress holding out my hand. He took it and kissed my knuckles. I gritted my teeth and force a smile onto my face. This perv haven't stopped hitting on me since we met him.

We left with his lawyer and I plopped down sighing. "An hour? Bloody hell. I hope Mr. Griffin hasn't lost interest because we kept him so long." I muttered getting up and walking over to the waiting room. He was sitting next to his wife and she had their six year old son bouncing on her leg. He was giggling like crazy. I wondered where his two younger children were. His youngest was just a year old. "Mr. Griffin, we are ready for you." He smiled and kissed his wife. He patted his lawyer on the back and he snorted waking up. I walked quickly back into the room and smiled at Draco, "He won't be too difficult."

Mr. Griffin walked in and Draco put on his great act. "Sorry it took so long!" He grinned and patted Mr. Griffin on the shoulder. He introduced his lawyer and I plopped back down in my seat. I let Draco explain everything and I did the usual. I just kept quiet and handed the document to the lawyer.

"We will be paying for nearly everything." Draco said.

"The Ministry doesn't need to do that! The hotel room is quite enough." He smiled widely and looked over at me. "Ms. Rella, you haven't spoken at all. I have heard all of Draco's main points, but I want to hear you." He smiled through his thick beard and I smiled. I looked at Draco, who leaned back in his chair with his chin folded under his chin. I couldn't mess this one up.

"Well, Mr. Griffin. You have five children, which two are in Hogwarts. We want to make sure the wizarding world is rebuilding and restoring peace so your children will feel safe. Hogwarts is almost completely finished rebuilding and we want to make sure all your children needs are met while they are there." I leaned forward and smiled.

"With your help, we can greatly assure that. The second war really destroyed our world and we need your help to repair it." I smiled and leaned back. I looked at Draco, who raised an eyebrow and waited for Mr. Griffin to speak. He smiled and turn towards his lawyer.

"You have convinced me, Ms. Rella." He stood up and held out his hand. I looked at him shocked; Draco normally was the one that got them to agree. I stood up quickly and shook his hand. He left and I turned towards Draco. "Whoa."

Draco chuckled, "You need to speak up more often when it comes to soft blokes."


End file.
